The Child of Grimm
by TenshiWarrior
Summary: Three weeks before the Vytal Festival, Team RWBY finds a little girl that is looking for her father while at the same time avoiding her captors the White Fang. Team RWBY as well as Team JNPR look after the child while trying to figure out why the White Fang wants her, and what they have against her dad. What kind of secrets will they uncover?
1. Chapter 1: Helpless

_**NOTE:**_

 _The following takes place after the end of Volume 2 and to the events of Volume 3. I do not own RWBY, or any of the characters. The only thing I own is my OCs._

* * *

Three weeks, they were just three weeks away from the start of the Vytal Festival; They're just three weeks away from what they were preparing all semester. At first they didn't feel like they were prepared to fight against other teams from different academy's. Although now they were ready for whatever came their way. A month came and went since they stopped a Grimm invasion with the help of team, JNPR, CFVY, their new friends, Sun Wukong, Neptune Vasilias, Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black, and they had finally put Roman Torchwick in his place.

After what they've been through, they felt prepared for anything that came their way. They felt like they could take on the whole world if they could.

Here they were walking through the city of Vale, going through the various shops. They thought that a walk in the city would do them so good.

They were currently in a cafe, having a couple of muffins and coffee.

Ruby had just finished her cup and sighed with relief, "Aaahhh… There's nothing like a good cup of coffee to keep you awake in the day." She said wiping away some of the coffee on her mouth.

"Can you maybe take it easy on that coffee?" Weiss asked her, "You've already had six cups."

"What are you talking about I feel just fine." Ruby said to her with a smile.

"Now you see where she get's her energy from?" Yang said to Weiss, when she saw Weiss directing a questioningly look over to her.

"That explains why she sometimes pulls all nighters." Blake said, taking a bite from her blueberry muffin.

Ruby stood up from her seat, "Alright then, now that we've had our breakfast, we can officially get this day started!"

"Pray tell, exactly what do you have in mind?" Weiss asked her curiously.

"I heard from Velvet that they had some new stores opening since the Vytal Festival coming up." Ruby said, "Plus they have a new arcade that opened recently, and they have the new best games! I even heard that they have one based on Spruce Willis."

Yang said with a smile, "Ooo, Spruce Willis! That sounds like a fun!"

"An arcade? Really?" Blake said a bit unsure about it, "I don't know, maybe I should sit this one out."

"They also have a new bookstore!"

Blake seemed to have perked up at that. "I'm in!" Blake said with sudden enthusiasm.

"You recovered quick." Yang said with an amused smile.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Ruby said, "Let's go!" She suddenly sprinted away leaving rose petals in her wake.

" **RUBY GET BACK HERE! YOU NEED TO PAY FOR THESE MUFFINS AND COFFEE!** " Weiss yelled as she ran in the direction Ruby ran in. Yang and Blake soon followed behind her.

They lost track of time when they had started to play in the arcade, and when Blake was off to read her favorite books in a bookstore nearby. By the time that they were ready to go home, it was already evening, and they were all tired and in need of a long day's rest.

"Oh man, I can't believe we were in there for hours." Yang said stretching her arms and cracking her knuckles.

Ruby let out a yawn, "Man, I'm sooo tired. Who knew playing that dance video game can really take it out of you."

"You're one that decided to play it for three hours straight." Weiss said.

"Says the girl that beat her in 10 games?" Blake said to Weiss.

Weiss turned red and immediately said while stammering, "That doesn't really mean anything!"

"I don't know about you guys, but I'm seriously craving a burger right now." Yang said rubbing her stomach.

"I guess we can grab something to eat before we head back." Blake said.

"I agree." Weiss said, ultimately giving up the conversation that was made earlier.

They walked down the block and as they turned the corner, someone ran right into Yang but fell to the ground. The four girls looked and saw in front of them was a young twelve year old girl, wearing a dirty raggy dress and was covered in dirt herself. She had on a brown buckle bag and there appeared to be a I.V tube connected to her chest; it lead to the inside of her bag.

Her messy hair was of a magenta color and only two parts of her bangs were of orange. They saw she had a green eye and an eyepatch over the other eye. She had a look of fear on her face as the four looked at the child, wondering what she was running from. They soon got their answer when they heard someone in the distance yell, " **OVER HERE! SHE WENT THIS WAY!** "

The girl panicked and did the only thing she could think of; she got up and and ran behind the four girls. Three men most likely common bandits came on the same path that the little girl had taken, the men were holding onto weapons, and they looked angry.

They saw the little girl who was cowering behind the four girls.

"Can we help you with something?" Ruby asked them with an eyebrow raised.

"Yes, how's about you hand over that girl behind you?" One of the men asked, "If you do we won't hurt you."

"Why?" Blake said with a glare, "What did she do?"

The little girl stuffed her face into Blake's back, and held onto her as if her very life depended on it.

"That kid stole food and money from us." Another said, "She needs to pay for it."

"Pay for it?" Weiss said, "But she's just a little girl."

They seemed to have ignored Weiss's statement.

"I won't ask again!" The man said, "Hand her over and no one get's hurt!"

The four girls looked at one another. "Should we?" Blake asked.

"Nah, just let me handle these guys." Yang said, putting her fists together, and cracking her knuckles.

The men couldn't help but laugh with amusement, "You seriously think you can take us on?" The third man said.

"Don't know." Yang said getting into her fighting stance, "Think one of you guys can hit a girl?"

The men took only but a glance at one another before charging Yang head on; all she did was smirk. The men swung there weapons, and Yang dodged with ease, all the while she was throwing punches without the use of her gauntlets. They seemed to have fallen onto their faces constantly but kept on coming back to see if they could land a hit on her.

Yang continued to repeat the same patterns of dodging and punching, till at a point she did a backflip from one of the men's attacks. She laughed, "Haha! Man you guys don't know anything about fighting do you? At least make this a-"

She had cut herself when she saw that a single strand of her hair had been cut off. The other three team members on team RWBY widened in shock.

"Oh boy." Ruby said burying her head in her hands

"Oh Yang." Weiss said putting her hand on her forehead.

"Oh no…" Blake said rubbing the bridge of her nose.

The three men as well as the little girl were confused by this. That was until…

"You… **YOU MONSTERS!** "

Yang had suddenly went all out; She armed her gauntlets on her hands and charged at full speed catching the men by surprise. She punched them rapidly with her eyes crimson red and her hair lit up like the sun. All the while shots were fired from her gauntlets, luckily the men had their aura to protect them from the bullets, although it still hurt a lot. Finally Yang had did an uppercut, sending all of them flying through the air; a crashing sound was heard in the distance.

Yang caught her breath and her eyes changed back to the familiar color of purple. "Hey Yang, don't you think that was a bit overdone?" Weiss asked.

"Yeah, are they gonna be okay?" Ruby asked.

"Meh, they'll be fine." Yang said cracking her shoulder.

They then turned to the little girl, who was now even more scared than before after seeing Yang go all out the way she did. Realizing this Ruby immediately said, "It's okay, I know my sister can be very scary at times, but trust me she's really nice, and she'd never hurt you."

The little girl looked to Ruby than to Yang; She seemed to relax but was still a bit nervous. "Are you okay?" Blake asked her.

All she did in reply was nod her head.

"They didn't try to hurt you?" Weiss asked.

She shook her head in reply.

Ruby tilted her head slightly to the left, "What's wrong? Can't you talk at all?"

The girl nodded her head in reply, and the four of them couldn't help but sigh with relief when she had given them that answer.

Just than they heard a loud growling sound, which had startled them. They turned each other and realized that it wasn't from either of them. They looked back at the little girl and saw that her face was red with embarrassment and she was covering her stomach.

"Huh, I guess you must be hungry." Blake said to the little girl. She couldn't help but nod.

Ruby then said with a smile, " We were just about to go and get dinner! You wanna tag along?"

The rest of her teammates seem to have a confused look on their faces; on the other hand the little girl's expression seemed to have brightened at that. She eagerly nodded her head.

The next thing that everyone knew, they found themselves sitting at a table of a fast food restaurant, with the little girl with them. She had her bag to the side but the tube was still connected to her chest. She was gobbling up everything that was in front of her like a wild animal; team RWBY could tell that she hadn't eaten in days. They had finished their own burger and fries and watched as the little girl before them had basically sucked everything almost as if she was a vacuum cleaner. Finally she was full; she laid back in her chair and heaved out a sigh.

"So, are you all good now?" Yang asked the girl awkwardly.

Finally the girl had spoke, "Yeah. That really hit the spot. Thank you."

Ruby twiddled her thumbs and asked, "So… What's your name?"

She drank from her small soda and replied, "Destiny. My name is Destiny."

"Nice to meet you Destiny." Ruby said before introducing herself and her teammates, "My name is Ruby, this is Weiss, Blake and my older sister Yang."

Destiny seemed to have chuckled at that. "What? What's so funny?" Weiss asked her curiously.

"Nothing." The little girl named Destiny replied, "It's just that, her name is Ruby and your initials are RWBY. It's kind of funny how confusing that is."

"Well yeah, it does get confusing doesn't it?" Ruby said rubbing her head.

Blake asked her, "Did you really steal some food and money from those men earlier?"

Destiny nodded her head, "I did have them but I dropped them while I was running."

"Well, you're lucky that you ran into us." Weiss said, "I can't imagine what they would do to you if they caught you."

Destiny finished her cup and let out a very loud and unexpected burp, which surprised all of them even her. She turned red from embarrassment again. "What are you doing out in the streets alone?" Yang asked, "Don't get me wrong, but it's really dangerous for a little girl like you."

Destiny replied with a bit of hesitation, "I'm… I'm trying to find my father."

Team RWBY seemed to a bit taken back by this. "Did you get separated from him?" Ruby asked her.

Destiny shook her head, "I was… I was _**taken**_ from him."

They all gasped at that. "You mean, you were kidnapped?" Ruby said.

All Destiny did was nod her head. "How long were held captive?" Weiss asked her.

"I… Don't know." Destiny replied, "When they took me, they locked me in a room without windows and I lost track of time. All I know is when the Grimm invaded the city, I used the confusion to escape. After that I've been hiding in the streets ever since."

The Grimm Invasion that happened a month ago? She's been out there in the streets for that long the whole team couldn't help but think equally. Who knows how long that she's been held captive. But who would be responsible for kidnapping a little girl like her? It isn't the people who they think it was? Wasn't it? The whole team seemed to have the same thought. Finally Blake had asked her, "If you don't mind me asking, who are the ones that kidnapped you?"

Destiny replied with hesitation once again, "It… It was the… _**White Fang**_."

This was definitely unheard of; First the White Fang turned to violence, then started working with a human, and now they kidnapped a child? They couldn't believe that they would just sink to a new low; Blake especially couldn't believe that she had heard this from the little girl before her.

"The White Fang?" Blake asked her with disbelief, "Are you sure it was them?"

Destiny nodded her head.

Blake sat back in her seat and looked away from the group. Weiss then asked her, "Why would they take you? What did they want with you, or your father for that matter?"

Destiny's hands started to shake at thought of the White Fang. "I'm… I'm sorry." She said as she felt her eyes get a bit watery, "It's just too painful to talk about it."

Yang who sat next to her, giving her a comforting pat on the shoulder, "It's okay, no one's forcing you to talk about it."

"Did you try going to the police about this?" Ruby asked, "I mean, they could help you."

Destiny rubbed her eyes, preventing from any tears coming from her eyes. "I already tried; but when I told them, they didn't believe me. They said I didn't have any proof."

"Well if the White Fang are the ones that kidnapped you then do you have someplace safe to stay, like any other family?" Yang asked her.

Destiny shook her head, "My dad is the only family I have left. But I'm not sure where he is exactly."

Team RWBY looked at each other.

"Could you excuse us?" Ruby asked her, "Don't worry we won't go far."

Destiny nodded and the four of them went to away from the table but they weren't too far from the girl's sight.

"I can't believe this." Blake said, "The White Fang are pushing it too far now."

"To think they would go as far to kidnap a little girl." Weiss said, "This is just unbelievable."

"We can't exactly send her on her way." Yang said, "If the White Fang is really looking for her than she'll end up getting caught again."

"We have to do something." Ruby said, "If the police couldn't help her, and she doesn't really have no other family to go to. I mean like Yang said, even if we do send her on her way it'll be a matter of time before the White Fang manages to find her."

"Well what are we supposed to do?" Weiss asked, "Sneak her back to Beacon and hide her there until we can find her dad?"

The whole team stood their in silence when that was said. They all looked to Ruby and they saw a smile plastered on her face. Weiss immediately knew what she was thinking, "Oh no."

Ruby threw her hands up in the air and shouted, " **WEISS YOU'RE A GENIUS!** "

"I'm liking that idea!" Yang said with enthusiasm.

"It does seem efficient." Blake said crossing her arms over her chest.

"You guys, we can't do that!" Weiss whispered, "The academy won't allow it!"

"Not if we sneak her back." Ruby said with confidence.

"Um, what happens if we're caught?"

"Don't sweat it Weiss, she can stay in our room till we can find her dad." Yang said, "Besides no one will even know she's there."

Weiss asked her, "Where is she supposed to sleep than? We only have four beds!"

Ruby replied, "We can always share beds. Come on Weiss, we can't just turn her away, like you said, she's just a little girl. And if the White Fang really wants her than we need to know why."

Weiss was about to start yet another argument but stopped herself when she realized that Ruby was right. Weiss sighed and said, "Fine, but as long as she's staying with us, I'll buy her some new clothes since she is not wearing that dirty dress."

"Deal." The three girls said.

With that they told Destiny the good news, and after cleaning up their table they headed back to Beacon Academy for the night.

( _ **Opening Theme: When it Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

* * *

 _Hey guys! Tenshi here! So this is one of the only stories where it does not feature a crossover! IKR? It's unbelievable, for those of you that have read my previous stories you know for a fact that I've only down nothing but crossovers, to be honest this is actually the first story that does not have any of the characters from another series._

 _So let me give you the run down on how this story works. This is a little "What if" idea I had in my mind from when I watched RWBY Volume 2, so I guess you can call this a head-canon (Maybe IDK :P)._

 _Most of the story is gonna be like how I Feel Like a Monster was, and that the story is mostly told through flashback. It does connect to what's happening in RWBY Volume 3, but fair warning for some of you that don't like this idea, something different, might happen, you'll when you get further into the chapters._

 _I can't give you any spoilers but if you have any questions just type in the reviews, if u don't have any questions than let me know what u think._

 _Also another another fair warning to those of u that hav already watched RWBY Volume 3, let me just say this... If you thought the third season was dark before; it'll get even darker when you read this fanfic!_

 _Thank u for taking the time of reading this, I can't promise that the chapters will be up right away, and honestly I don't know how u guys will react to the idea I have in mind, so I hope I'll do good, and I hope you'll like it._

 _Once again thank you 4 taking the time of reading this, this is Tenshi signing off :D!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Vytal Festival

( _ **Opening Theme: When it Fall Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

" _Ladies and gentlemen, Team RWBY will move on to the doubles round!_ "

The Vytal Festival was finally here, for one and all. Everyone was excited about it, the students especially. Mostly because of the tournament that was taking place; they not only get to represent their own school but they're able to show everyone around the kingdom of Remnant what they're capable of doing. If there's one thing that students loved to do, it was showing off. All the students from different academy's cheered for one team after another and seeing them engage one another in combat. The one team that was most excited about the event was team RWBY and they had just won a fight against team ABRN from the academy known as Haven.

Ruby let out a groan as she slouched while she stood, "Is anyone else starving right now?"

"I may have worked up an appetite." Blake said with her hands behind her head; a loud growling sound was heard and it all came from Blake's stomach.

Weiss had said with sarcasm, "Oh gee, if there was only some place on campus where we can get food around here."

The next thing team RWBY knew they found themselves in the middle of the fairgrounds of the Vytal Festival. Of course it was crowded; everyone was at different stands either winning prizes or buying souvenirs or snacks.

"Oh, wait a minute." Weiss said.

Ruby places a hand on her shoulder, "It's okay Weiss, I forget about the fair grounds too."

Weiss sighed and said, "I was just being facetious."

"Well, if you were hungry why didn't you say so?!" Ruby shouted throwing her arms in the air

Yang said to the group, "I know just the place where we can grab a bite to eat! Follow me!"

The group proceeded to follow behind Yang; Weiss stopped in her tracks in she heard her scroll letting out a ringtone. She took it out from her pocket and saw the person that was calling her was her father. She let out a groan and chose to ignore the call from her father, before catching up with her fellow teammates.

They turned around the corner from where they were going when they stopped in their tracks by a familiar voice.

"Hey, it might be hard to eat without this!"

Ruby turned around and saw that it was Emerald in possession of her wallet. Ruby quickly searched her pockets, "Oh no, no no no!" Ruby said with a panicked expression.

Emerald laughed at the way Ruby reacted, "Good to see you Ruby."

She handed the wallet back to Ruby; she placed it back it in her dress pocket.

"Thanks!" Ruby said, "I guess I must've dropped it. Gah! Girl pockets are the worst kind of pockets!"

"So what's up?" Yang had greeted.

"Nothing much really." Emerald replied, "We just left the stadium after your amazing fight, seriously you guys were awesome!"

Ruby turned red at that, "Oh stop it! You're making me blush!"

"I heard that your team progressed to the doubles rounds as well." Blake said.

Weiss had pointed out, "Speaking of which, we never actually see your teammates."

"How did they do in the fight?" Yang asked.

* * *

- _ **Earlier**_ -

 _Emerald and Mercury fired a couple of rounds on the last team member they were fighting against. As he charged at them Cinder had jumped in front of them and kicked him the gut causing him to fly across the arena. He landed on his back and before he knew it, a girl with black hair wearing a goth outfit and had her hair tied into twin tails toward over him._

 _The moment that she blinked he could've sworn that her eyes had changed from green to pink and brown. He didn't have time to think about that when the girl had stomped right on his face._

* * *

- _ **Present**_ -

"They did really well as a matter of fact." Emerald said so casually.

Ruby smiled and replied, "That's really great! You wanna come join us for some victory food?"

"Oh!" Emerald said, "That's really, really kind of you. But I'm afraid my friends are kind of uh…"

They turned to her fellow teammate, by the name of Mercury, checking out shoes. He took a whiff, of inside a boot and the Team RWBY couldn't help but give an awkward look.

"Socially awkward." Emerald said having the same look as team RWBY did.

Yang inhaled with her teeth together, "Oh, yeah, I can see."

"Although on the other hand, Merc and I are gonna be moving on to the doubles rounds." Emerald said with a smile, "How about you guys?"

Ruby said with a confident smile, "Well as leader of this team, I thought long and hard about this decision."

"We put it to a vote." Weiss added.

Ruby said before clearing her throat, "Yes well, _**I**_ decided, we should put it to a vote!"

Blake added, "We voted for Weiss and Yang."

"I will happily represent team RWBY." Weiss said as she bowed.

"Yeah! We're gonna kick some butt!" Yang said putting her fists together.

Emerald chuckled, "Well, if Merc and I see you down the line, don't expect us to go easy on you."

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Yang said crossing her arms.

"Well, we're gonna go catch some more fights." She said to team RWBY turning to Mercury.

"Have fun!" Ruby said as she waved.

"Bye! See you later!" Emerald said to the team. The minute she had her back turn from them she stuck her tongue in disgust and rolled her eyes; Mercury walked beside her.

"And pray tell, how are the new friends?" Mercury asked with an amused smile.

"I hate them." Emerald replied, still having a disgusted look on her face.

"Orders are orders."

"It's just-How can they be so happy all the time!?"

"Did you at least get what we want?"

"It's the Heiress and the bimbo."

"Welp, at least we managed to get something out of it."

With that both Emerald and Mercury made their back towards the fighting arena.

Team RWBY had arrived at the noodle stands, they sat with the stools that was provided.

"I'll have a bowl of the regular please." Yang ordered. In the matter of seconds, a large bowl of noodles was pushed in front of her. Ruby looked at it with an astonished look, "I'll take the same!"

A bowl was pushed in front of her, and Ruby had a gleeful look on her face.

Weiss asked the owner of the noodle stand, "Do you have anything with a low sal-"

A large bowl of noodles was suddenly pushed in front of her which caught her off.

"Um… Okay?" Weiss couldn't help but say awkwardly.

Blake on the other hand, didn't say on what she wanted to order; all she did was nod her head and the owner nodded back. He dashed towards the kitchen and came back out with a large bowl of cooked fish. Blake seemed to drool at the sight of it.

Weiss pulled out her credit card from her dress pocket and handed it to the owner to scan.

"Aw, Weiss, what's the occasion?" Yang asked Weiss.

Weis simply replied, "Consider it thanks for sending me to the doubles rounds."

The credit card was suddenly thrown like a ninja star and stuck to the table, surprising the four girls. The owner cleared his throat and the four girls looked up. He pointed to the cash register and it had read declined.

"Declined!?" Weiss exclaimed, "How can my card be declined?! I was barely in my monthly allowance…"

The owner suddenly pulled the bowl of cooked fish away from Blake.

"No…" She said as she slumped over on the table.

A familiar voice had soon came over them, "Maybe I can help?"

It had turned out the people that approached them was team JNPR, beside them was a young twelve year old girl wearing a long sleeved purple hoodie with a pair of short brown pants and under it was black cropped leggings. She also had on a pair of blue and green sneakers and a pair of red socks; on her back she had on a brown bag with an IV tube connected from her bag and into her chest. She also had on a black eyepatch over her right eye and over head she had on her hood.

" **PYRRHA!** " Ruby said with cheer, before turning to the little girl, "And there's Destiny!"

Destiny ran over to team RWBY and hugged each of them. "Congratulations on winning the fight against team ABRN!" She said to them with a smile.

"Thanks alot Dessie." Yang said, "Did you enjoy the fight?"

Destiny nodded her head, "You guys were really amazing out there! I can't believe that you punched all three of those of guys!"

Yang couldn't help but chuckle at that.

Destiny took out what appeared to be four bracelets from out of her pocket. One had red and black beads with a red rose, the second was of white and light blue beads with a snowflake, the third was of dark purple and black beads with what appeared to be a purple flame and the fourth had yellow and orange beads with a yellow flame.

"Here, I made you guys some victory bracelets." Destiny said handing each of the bracelets to them, "It's not really much but I hope it's-"

"This is perfect." Weiss said with a smile, "Thank you Destiny."

Destiny's face turned red and she couldn't help but smile.

Yang then said to Pyrrha, "But seriously, you don't have to pay for our lunch."

"But she could!" Blake immediately said.

Pyrrha chuckled a bit, "I think you all deserve it after that match."

"Mind if we join you?" Jaune asked the four girls.

* * *

- _ **Three Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _Team RWBY had made it back to Beacon, and were currently sneaking around on campus. Ruby was ahead and looking around making sure that there was no one currently outside. When she saw that their was no one in sight she turned and signaled someone from the distance._

" _It's all clear." She whispered._

 _The other three members of team RWBY came out of hiding. Blake was carrying little Destiny in her arms as she followed close behind her other team members._

" _Alright we're almost at the dorms." Yang said, "As long as we get there unseen by any professor or Ironwood or Atlas's men, than we'll be okay."_

 _Destiny asked hesitantly, "Are you sure this is okay? I don't want you guys to get in trouble."_

" _It'll be fine." Blake reassured her, "Just be glad you're gonna get a roof over your head tonight."_

" _And once we get to our room we'll get all that dirt off of you." Weiss added, "That way you won't sleep in your own filth."_

 _Destiny nodded, still a bit unsure about this idea. They were just about near the dorms when suddenly-_

" _ **NORA!**_ "

 _Nora had suddenly popped out of nowhere surprising the four girls plus Destiny._

" _Nora for the love of-!" Weiss started to say, "Don't scare us like that!"_

 _All Nora did was laugh. They soon heard Ren's voice, "Nora! What did we talk about? You can't just go jumping in front of people."_

" _But I feel like I haven't seen these guys in forever!" Nora said to Ren as he came into view._

 _Jaune and Pyrrha came into view as well, "What are you talking about? You saw them two hours ago." Jaune pointed out._

" _ **FEELS LIKE FOREVER.**_ " _Nora stated right in Jaune's face._

 _Pyrrha soon noticed Destiny in the arms of Blake's; she seem to have shrink and buried her face into Blake's shoulder._

" _Ummm…" Pyrrha said awkwardly, "Who's this little girl with you?"_

 _Team RWBY seemed to be nervous when Pyrrha asked that question. Each of them replied with something different._

" _She's Yang and my cousin!" Ruby said suddenly._

" _My little sister!" Weiss said immediately after Ruby._

" _Uhh, umm, old friend?" Blake said questioningly._

" _Ruby and my step-sister!" Yang said._

 _Team JNPR looked at them questioningly, seeing as how they each told them a different story altogether. Of course they didn't buy it, not even for a second. "Alright, what's going on?" Jaune asked them. The four girls laughed a bit nervously but ultimately they slumped in defeat._

 _They've been found out before they had gotten back to their room in the dorms._

* * *

 _-_ _ **Present; Vytal Festival**_ -

Team RWBY and JNPR plus Destiny had finished their lunch and were all stuffed. Although the four girls were feeling fine, and Pyrrha was stuffed and satisfied as was Nora and Ren, Jaune and Destiny were looking and feeling a bit sickly.

Ren asked Pyrrha, "Are you sure it's wise for us to eat before the match?"

"Of course!" Pyrrha said with confidence, "It will give us energy!"

Both Nora and Destiny let out a tremendous burp surprising everyone, Nora just sat there with a smile while Destiny turned red from embarrassment; she couldn't help but laugh awkwardly when they all stared at her.

Jaune buried his head in the table, "Ugh… If I barf I'm blaming you."

"Aim it at the enemy!" Nora said with a grin.

Destiny laughed at that. "Ew, that's gross!" She said between her giggles.

"But, if you really feel the urge than…" Ren said to Jaune.

"Got it…" Jaune said groggily.

Ruby asked the team, "You think you guys are ready?"

Nora replied, "Of course! We've got a gladiator fighter on our team, ones basically a ninja, I can bench five of me and Jaune-We trained all throughout the semester, and our weapons are _**AWESOME**_ , Glynda barely yells at us anymore, and uh…. Jaune!"

"Your not gonna let her take that are you?" Destiny asked Jaune patting him on his back.

Jaune simply said, "She's not wrong."

"I'm just kidding!" Nora said, "Don't worry, he knows I'm kidding! There's no need to be so nervous, the worst that could happen is that we lose! Than it's just a few more years walking around school, everyone is gonna see us as failures and our friends will reserve their social status and no one will sit with us in the cafeteria, and Ren and I have no parents we have no home left to go to! We'll be officially renamed team **LOSER!** "

Nora seemed to have lost her color altogether and she ended up stuffing her face into the table while crying softly.

"Yeah…" Ren said, "We're feeling pretty good."

"That went unexpectedly deep…" Destiny couldn't help but say awkwardly.

Pyrrha reassured her team, "Don't fret. If anything we should be looking forward to a fight with actual guidelines, and well… Not _**murderers**_."

"Yeah, don't sweat it." Yang said, "We've all faced worse stuff before the Vytal Festival even started."

"Let's see…" Blake said, "There was the Grimm invasion, the White Fang, and a destructive sociopath."

Destiny seemed to have a sad look on her face at the last part; Blake took notice of this, "Oh, sorry, I didn't-"

Destiny shook her head and gave her a reassured smile, "It's okay, I know you didn't mean it."

"But that was all when we were still in training!" Ruby said with a smile, hoping that they would forget the awkwardness, "Imagine what it's going to be like when we graduate!"

"Maybe than I'll be able to pay for a meal." Weiss mumbled to herself.

Soon enough they heard the PA come online; they heard Professors Ports voice.

" _ **Would team JNPR please report to the arena.**_ " He said.

Professor Oobleck's voice came soon after, " _ **Yes! Like they were scheduled to, SEVERAL MINUTES AGO.**_ "

"Well, looks like this is it." Pyrrha said. The team stood where they seat and proceeded to the arena.

" **GO GET'EM!** " Ruby and Destiny said.

* * *

- _ **Three Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _They returned to the dorms along with team JNPR, they explained what had happened earlier that day. About how they found Destiny and what had happened. They had the same reaction as team RWBY did when they first heard it from her. All of them were currently in RWBY's room; currently, Blake, Weiss (Currently fixing up Destiny's dress, which had gotten most of the dirt off), and Ruby were the only ones in the room along with team JNPR, while Yang was giving Destiny a bath._

" _Wow…" Jaune said speechless after hearing that story, "I can't believe that happened."_

" _Too think she survived since the Grimm invasion in the city." Pyrrha added, "It must've been tough for her."_

" _I still don't understand what the White Fang could possibly want with her." Blake said, "They would never kidnap a child like her, not unless they wanted something out of it."_

 _Ren suggested, "Maybe they had something against her father and took her as a hostage."_

" _Maybe." Ruby said, "But that would be depending on who her dad is, either way we won't know until she tells us."_

 _Pyrrha said, "Well, considering all that she's been through it wouldn't be best just to force this kind of thing out of her. If we just let her get used to us, than maybe she'll give us the answer that we need."_

" _We?" Weiss asked them just as she finished sewing the dress, "You mean you want to help us?"_

" _Yeah, of course we want to help!" Nora said, "You're our friends and it's gonna be a lot of trouble to take care of her!"_

" _What do you mean?" Ruby asked._

 _Jaune pointed out, "Well, with the Vytal festival coming up, you're gonna be participating in matches and she can't stay in this room by herself while you guys are off doing that, so we'll watch her while you guys are off doing matches or other things."_

 _Ruby, Blake and Weiss, turned to each other, and they couldn't but think that Jaune had made a good point. They were going to participate in matches and they were all thinking originally she was going to stay in the room while they were off doing that. Than again they had no idea what she was going to do since well, they just meet her._

" _Huh, now that I think about it you make a good point." Ruby admitted._

" _I guess that's the plan than." Blake said._

 _Ren asked, "So how long is she going to be here?"_

" _It's just until her dad is found." Weiss said getting up to the bathroom; she opened the door slightly and handed Yang the dress before closing the door shut, "Until than she's gonna be staying here."_

 _Ruby then begged, "Please you can't tell anyone about what we're doing, not even Ozpin."_

" _Of course we won't say anything." Jaune reassured them, "Don't worry you can trust us."_

" _Not say anything to Ozpin?" Pyrrha questioned, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"_

" _It's not really the best idea, but it's the only thing that we have planned." Weiss simply said, "For now."_

 _Yang came out of the bathroom with Destiny; She still carried her bag with the IV tube still connected to her chest. "There we are! Good as new!" Yang said triumphantly._

 _Destiny looked to team JNPR nervously, and couldn't help but hide behind Yang. "Hey, it's okay don't worry, these guys are our friends."_

" _Hi there Destiny!" Pyrrha said with a comforting smile, "It's very nice to meet you."_

" _H-Hi." Destiny stammered nervously._

" _Hey it's okay Dessie." Ruby reassured her, "These guys are our friends, so you can trust them."_

 _Destiny nodded her head head in understanding, and soon let out a yawn. She rubbed her eyes, despite having an eyepatch. "I'm getting a little tired." She said a bit drowsy._

 _Blake looked at the time on the clock, "I guess it is getting pretty late. We should turn in for the night."_

" _Yup that sounds like a good idea." Jaune said, "Good night guys."_

" _Night Jaune!" Ruby said. With that team JNPR left the room and went back to there own room which was just across from there's. Team RWBY changed into there sleepwear and gotten ready to go to sleep. Destiny asked nervously, "Um… I don't have to sleep on the floor do I?"_

 _Ruby replied, "Nope! Blake won't mind if you bunk with her."_

 _Destiny turned to Blake; she simply replied, "It's fine, you won't take much space if that's what your worried about."_

" _Alright that settles it!" Yang said climbing up to her bed, "Time to hit the hay! See you guys in the morning!" As soon as her head hit the pillow she was out like a light. "G'night guys!" Ruby said and climbed up on her bed; falling asleep as soon as she hit the pillow; Weiss had gone to sleep as well. Blake help Destiny up onto the bed and she placed the bag in the corner with the space that was provided, Blake blowed out the light and went to sleep._

 _Destiny didn't go to sleep right away however. She found herself lying awake and staring at the top bunk for about an hour or two, having something on her mind. She rolled over on her stomach and opened up a small pouch from her bag; inside there appeared to be three small pictures. She took out one of them too look at; the picture that had been taken out was of her and her father._

" _Daddy…" She said softly, "I really miss you. It's really strange without you around; and it's kind of strange being here at Beacon. I just… I just hope that this will all be over, and I hope we can see each other again soon, until than… Please be safe."_

 _Still holding onto the picture she she laid on her side and slowly but surely, she entered her own dreamland._

* * *

 _-_ _ **Present**_ -

Team RWBY had entered the stadium with Destiny by there side, and just as they turned to go to there seats they had passed by Emerald and Mercury. Emerald stopped in her tracks and turned eyeing the team; she was looking at the twelve year old girl specifically. She wondered only for a moment why she had looked familiar, but shook it off when Mercury called out to her; she quickly walked beside him.

At that very same moment, Destiny looked back looking at Emerald and Mercury. Ruby and the others told her about them, but she could've sworn that she had seen them before, she just couldn't remember where. She bought out of thought when she heard Blake's voice, "Destiny? Is something wrong?"

Destiny looked at her and shook her head, "It's… It's nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure."

Blake had an unsure look on her face but shook it off; she and Destiny went to catch up with the rest of team RWBY.

Mercury and Emerald both sat in their seats; Mercury was currently eating a large bucket of popcorn.

"I wonder who's gonna win." Mercury said as he chewed on the popcorn.

Emerald scoffed, "As if we didn't already know."

They heard Cinder's voice over their shoulders; she was just in the row of seats behind them.

"Oh come now." Cinder had said, "Just because you know how a story ends, it doesn't make it any less fun to watch."

Taking a single popcorn kettle from Mercury's bucket, she used her hand to heat it up; and with a pop sound, it was a popcorn; she swallowed it and sat down in her seat just behind them.

Port had announced the team on the speakers.

" _Up next is Team JNPR from Beacon vs. Team BRNZ from Shade!_ "

The stage set itself; One half was of the forest and the other was of the mountain. As soon as the stage was set, Proffesor Port started the countdown.

" _3… 2… 1… BEGIN!_ "

Thus the fight had begun, and team RWBY and Destiny who sat in Blake's lap cheered on team JNPR as they engaged team BRNZ.

( _ **Ending Theme: Naruto Shippuden Ending 2**_ )


	3. Chapter 3: Remember, Remember

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **Three Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _The rays of the sun leaked through the windows into the room of team RWBY. Destiny was the first to stir awake, she sat up slowly and let out a yawn. She moved her eyepatch and rubbed her eye, before doing the same with the other. At first she seemed unfamiliar of her surroundings that was around her, as well as the people around her, but after a while it had come back to her._

" _Oh right. I'm at Beacon." She said to herself._

 _She quickly crawled out of bed, taking her bag with her; she was being very careful not to wake anyone as she tip toed to the bathroom which was provided. She stepped in and went to go wash her face; she removed her eyepatch, so that it wouldn't get soaked. Turning on the water she took a handful of water and splashed it on her face; taking a moment to look at her face. She looked in her bag and saw how much medicine she had left._

" _It's starting to run out." She said to herself with a worried expression, "Maybe they can help me get some more."_

 _She realized that she still had her picture that she had taken out of her bag last night. She looked at it as she took a seat on the toilet seat that was provided. She thought about what to tell of her savoirs exactly. She knew she had to tell her of her father if she wanted him to be found, but she was sure that they have heard of he father's,_ _ **reputation**_ _. She didn't what they would do if she had told them, she wondered what would happen if they knew exactly._

 _She was honestly scared; what would happen? Would they send her back out on the street or worse send her back to the White Fang? Would happen? What would they do?_

 _It had honestly scared her just thinking about it._

 _Her fear seemed to have raised even more when she thought about what they would say if they ever saw her eye. Would they try to kill her? She certainly hoped not._

 _She was bought out of thought when she heard a knock at the door. Turned out it was Blake._

" _Hey Destiny?" She said, "Are you in there?"_

 _Destiny replied hesitantly, "Ye-yeah, I'm here."_

 _Blake had said to her, "So um, I don't think anyones in the cafeteria right now. If your hungry I thought maybe you would want to head down there."_

" _Yeah, alright." Destiny said, "Just give me a second."_

 _Destiny wiped the remaining water off of her face and put her eyepatch back over her eye; she placed the picture back in her backpack and went to exit the bathroom. After Blake got dressed they both headed down to the cafeteria to get some early morning food. Luckily, barely anyone was in the cafeteria, and no one really payed attention to Blake or Destiny so they were both in the clear._

 _They had each gotten a plate of pancakes with a side of eggs, toasts and hash browns, and went to go sit at a table just at the far end of the cafeteria where they would less likely be seen. For awhile there was simply silence between them and they just ate what was on their plate. It wasn't until Destiny saw Blake looking through what appeared to be a journal._

 _She leaned over to get a peek and saw that she was reading over previous entries. She saw a picture of what appeared to be a man wearing a black coat with a flower that was of red and also had the shade of white. She seemed to be lost in the entry that she was reading._

 _She tilted her head in curiosity but couldn't make out the words on the page, since she always had a bit of trouble reading difficult words._

 _Blake didn't take notice of this as she said to her, "Weiss is going to take you out shopping for some new clothes later. Is that alright with you?"_

 _Destiny nodded her head nervously. Blake gave her a reassured smile, "It's alright Destiny, you don't have to be nervous, it's just a quick run to the store, and back here, okay?"_

 _Destiny nodded her head again, not saying anything in reply. Blake had a concerned look on her face, "Is… Is something else bothering you?" She asked her._

 _Destiny finally spoke, "It's my medicine. I'm starting to run out of it. If… If it's not too much trouble for your friend… Do you think she can help me get some more?"_

 _Blake asked curiously, "What's the medicine for?"_

" _It's for my heart." She replied, "Ever since I was born, I've always been sick. You see, I used to be bedridden because my heart causes a knife like pain everytime I walk. The medicine helps take the pain away, and I don't get as sick as I used to. If I run out, I'll basically be bedridden again."_

 _Blake said to her, "Don't worry, I'm sure Weiss will get the medicine that you need."_

" _She's an Heiress right?" Destiny asked curiously, "To the Schnee Dust Company?"_

 _Blake nodded her head in reply._

" _I thought so." Destiny said, "It's kind of weird, a friend of mine told me a little about them. She said that they're all mean. Weiss doesn't look mean though."_

 _Blake chuckled at that, "You'd be surprised. She used to be like that when we first formed the team but after awhile, she became our friend."_

" _That's good." The little one said with a small smile, "At least I don't have to worry about being afraid of her."_

" _You don't have to be afraid of any of us. I'm not sure what the White Fang wanted with you, but you don't have to worry about them. You're safe as long as your with us."_

 _Destiny gave an unsure look by Blake's words. She took a sip from her orange juice and only said one thing._

" _I hope you're right._ "

* * *

 _-_ _ **Present**_ -

The fight between team JNPR, and BRNZ was indeed a close shave. There were moments when Destiny found herself covering her vision when she thought that they were about to bite it. Team RWBY had always reassured her that they would be alright, and that they have improved on their training. Jaune especially from what she had been hearing. It looked as though the battle was nearing the end; Nora had just fired her weapon to the sniper in the trees. She had jumped out of the trees to avoid the explosion and the rest of her team flew back when Nora had jumped from the mountain and slammed her hammer into the ground.

"Alright!" Jaune shouted, "Let's finish them with team attacks! **NORA! REN! FLOWER POWER!** "

His teammates looked at him with a confused expression, "Wait what?" He heard Nora say.

Jaune turned and clarified, "Flower power. That's your team attack name."

"Since when?" Ren asked with a raised eyebrow.

Jaune couldn't help but complain, "You guys we've been over this before! Flower Power is Ren and Nora! Ren brings the flower, Nora brings the power!"

Ren scratched his head, "Um… How do I bring a flower exactly?"

"No silly!" Nora said, "Not _**a flower**_! Flour like in baking!"

"Why would bring that?" Ren couldn't help but ask.

"No not literally!" Jaune said, "It's your symbol!"

Pyrrha couldn't help but ask, "So… What does that make us?"

Jaune near yelled at her, "Pyrrha!"

"Sorry." She said, "I just want to make sure it's clearly defined."

"You and I are Arkos! It's the thing-Where we take both of our shields, and you know-Remember?"

"Wait, Arkos?"

"Yeah! It's our names put together!"

"Oh right! I get it now… I think?"

"What, you don't like it?"

"What? No-I-No I like it! It's ummm…. Good?"

"Oh, I sensed hesitation." Nora said with a smile.

Team BRNZ on the other hand, were not quite sure why they were having this conversation right now, considering the situation. One of the members by the name of Brawnz shouted over to them, "Hey! What do you think you're doing!?"

"We're trying to have a team meeting!" Jaune replied, "Thank you very little!"

" **YEAH! OUTSIDERS ARE FORBIDDEN!** " Nora shouted at them.

Team BRNZ couldn't help but look at one another; they shrugged at each other.

Brawnz shouted again, " **YOU'RE DOING THIS NOW!? WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FIGHT!** "

Jaune shouted with a bit of anger in his voice, " **AND WE'RE IN THE MIDDLE OF A CONVERSATION! WHAT DON'T YOU GET ABOUT THAT!?** "

Pyrrha tapped him on the shoulder, "Um, Jaune?"

"Yes Pyrrha?"

"I think he means we're _**all**_ in the middle of a fight."

It was only than Jaune had realized that, they were surrounded by a crowd. All of them were booing and shouting at them.

" **GET ON WITH IT!** "

" **LESS TALKING MORE FIGHTING!** "

" **BOO! NO CHIT CHAT!** "

" **JUST END THE FIGHT ALREADY!** "

Jaune sighed and just slapped himself in the face; both physically and mentally. "Nora?" He said, "Just hit them with the hammer."

Nora's grin grew wide, "Got it."

"What what?" Brawnz said.

Nora suddenly jumped right in front of them. They didn't have time to react, when Nora suddenly swung her hammer and hit them all right out of the stadium. They hit the shield just above the crowd of people, and slowly slide down to the ground below.

Port had said over the speakers, " _ **And with that, Team JNPR wins the match by knockout! Literally!... Seriously can someone go make sure they're okay?**_ "

Team RWBY and Destiny had their jaws wide open after they saw what had just happened in the arena. "Well…" Yang said between the five of them, "That was a thing."

"Whoa… That was unexpected." Weiss said, a bit awestruck.

Destiny spoke up, "That was… **TOTALLY AWESOME!** "

"I know right!" Ruby said, " **THAT WAS JUST INSANE!** "

Destiny cheered for them, " **YAY TEAM JNPR! I KNEW YOU GUYS COULD DO IT!** "

Team JNPR couldn't help but celebrate their victory up on the stage; they smiled and posed for a shot of the camera.

* * *

 **-** ** _ **Meanwhile in the City**_** **-**

Just by the port of a small bar, called the Crowbar, a man sat at one of the stools drinking an alcoholic drink; over at a side there were several glasses. He was half paying attention to the what was on the television. There was a caption just under Team JNPR which read " _Team JNPR defeats Team BRNZ_ ". Although the man didn't seem impressed.

As the bartender cleaned the glass, he was impressed by what Team JNPR could do.

"Hmm…" The Bartender said, "They actually weren't half bad."

The man couldn't help but scoff at that.

"Amateurs." Was the only thing he could say.

* * *

- _ **Three Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _The next thing that Destiny knew she was once again walking through the streets but this time she was beside Team RWBY. They had just entered a nearby clothing store, and Weiss was trying to see which would be appropriate for her to wear. Most of them were dresses, but she wasn't really a fan about wearing them in public. It seemed like it was taking forever for them to find something decent to wear. That was until she had finally something more to her taste. Currently they were waiting for her, as she tried on the outfit in the dressing rooms the four team members waited outside for._

 _Blake had explained to the others what Destiny had told her earlier that morning._

" _She's been sick?" Ruby asked._

" _She's been sick her whole life from what she told me." Blake replied, "She's said that she's running out of medicine and needs some more, if she doesn't she's going to be in so much pain that she won't be able to move."_

" _Damn…" Yang said, "That poor little girl."_

" _Did she say anything else to you?" Weiss asked curiously._

 _Blake simply shook her head, "She didn't say anything else, but I didn't want to ask."_

" _Don't worry Weiss, I'm sure she'll tell us more information given time." Yang said, "Like Pyrrha said, she just needs to get used to us."_

" _I know." Weiss said, "But I've been wondering since yesterday… She said that she was looking her father, I'm just wondering who he is exactly, and how he knows the White Fang."_

" _Yeah I'm wondering that too." Ruby said, "I mean her dad could be anyone. It could be someone that we know or maybe just a complete and total stranger."_

" _Either way, it's best if we let her tell us whenever she's comfortable." Blake said._

 _Yang had said to a group, "Consider that to be done! I have the perfect idea in mind."_

 _Before they could even ask, Destiny came out of the dressing rooms; the four of them looked upon what she was wearing. She had on a long sleeved purple hoodie with short brown pants with cropped leggings under it. With it she wore a pair of red socks with blue and green sneakers._

 _Ruby, Blake and Yang were impressed. The clothing actually did look good on her, as well as cute. Destiny's face turned slightly red, "Um… What do you guys think? Does it look good?"_

" _Omigosh!" Ruby said with a smile, "You look adorable!"_

" _You look super cute Dessie!" Yang said with a smile._

" _I am impressed." Blake said to Weiss, "It actually does look cute on her."_

" _It's one of my traits!" Weiss said, feeling very confident, "I just knew that it would suit her!"_

 _Destiny had said while twiddling her thumbs, "Tha-thank you."_

" _Looks like we have a winner on her new clothing." Yang said with a smile, "Now she just needs new PJ's!"_

" _I guess." Weiss said before asking Destiny, "Is that alright with you?"_

 _Destiny had replied, "I… I guess it's okay."_

 _Just as they made there way to where the PJ was, Destiny had failed to realize that her small pouch on her bag was open; a single picture falls out and Ruby seems to have taken notice. She picked the picture off of the floor and looked at the photograph._

 _The photograph appeared to have been taken at a fair of some kind; a young teenage girl stood just in the middle of it all with a warm smile on her face. Her hair was braided and her hair was of the same color of Destiny's which was magenta and had purple eyes. She wore a simple blue dress with purple leggings, and a pair of boot heels. Who is she, Ruby had wondered, maybe her sister? Maybe she can ask her._

" _Hey Destiny!" Ruby called over, "You dropped this picture."_

 _Destiny took the picture from Ruby, "Oh, thank you. I guess it slipped out."_

 _The rest of her teammates looked over at the picture. "Whoa, she's really pretty." Yang said, "Can I look?"_

 _Destiny nodded and handed the picture over to Yang. Blake and Weiss looked over her shoulder._

" _She really is pretty." Blake complimented, "Is she your sister?"_

 _Destiny shook her head and replied, "That's my mom when she was a teenager. Dad said that he took that picture when they went to the Vytal Festival."_

" _Aw! That's so romantic!" Ruby couldn't help but say with a kitten face._

" _Your dad must've loved your mother then." Weiss said._

 _Destiny smiled and nodded, "He really did! He still does! He tells me a lot of stories about her, and each one of them is so romantic!"_

 _Blake asked a bit worriedly, "They… They didn't divorce did they?"_

 _Destiny's face had softened; she replied, not making eye contact and just played with her hair, "No. My mom… Isn't with us anymore. She went to heaven when I was baby, at least, that's what dad told me."_

 _Team RWBY seemed to have a sympathetic look on their faces, "Oh, we didn't mean too-" Weiss had started to say._

 _Destiny shook her head, "It's alright, it's not your fault."_

 _Yang noticed that her bag was slightly open, "Guess that's why this picture fell out. Let me put it back for you."_

" _Thanks." Destiny said._

 _Destiny stood still as kneeled down to put the picture back in her small pouch. Before she did, she gotten a glimpse of two more pictures. She caught a peek of young Destiny in the arms of a man which she had assumed to be her father. She wanted to take a peek but decided that wasn't the best course of action. Placing the picture with the other two she closed the small pouch._

" _There we go!" Yang said, "Now we won't have to worry about it falling out again."_

" _I appreciate it, thank you." Destiny said with a smile._

 _Ruby soon let out a squeal which had surprised the young girls. Ruby ran and gotten what she squealed about. She grabbed a PJ shirt and a pair of pants that was of a cute little bear on it. "This will be great for you Destiny! That is if your a fan of bears."_

 _The three girls looked to Destiny with a curious look._

 _Destiny let out a small smile, "I like bears."_

* * *

- ** _Present; In the City_** -

The man watched on the television the fight between NDGO and SSSN. However the man buying drinks was left unimpressed.

The Bartender had commented, "Now that was a match!"

The man chuckled, "That was a mess."

"Come on man." The Bartender said, "You didn't like them? The Vale kids? Or any of the rounds before that? What fight are you really here for?"

They both heard a ship fly out in the distance. The man seemed to recognize who the ship belonged too.

"That one." The man replied. He got up from his seat finishing his drink and he somewhat wobbled. "Happy Vytal Festival." He said slamming the glass on the table and paying for the drink. He walked out of the bar with great difficulty.

* * *

- ** _At that Moment_** -

After the battle between JNPR and BRNZ, the next fight that had taken place was between SSSN and NDGO. Destiny only heard a little about team SSSN, mostly Weiss talked about Neptune and all that, she could only assume Weiss had, how a friend of hers would put it, a crush on him. What Destiny found ironic however was that Neptune was afraid of water; it seemed a bit silly to her.

The battle was like how JNPR was, team SSSN was cutting it real close. Only Sun and Neptune were left on the field, and three from NDGO; it was literally a three on two. Though it was a close match, they were able to win the match.

Ruby sighed with relief as she sat back in her chair, "Oh man. That was a close call."

"Looks like the dorks made it to the next round." Yang said with a smile.

Blake looked over at Sun who was doing his own victory dance along with Neptune. He stopped for a moment and flashed over a smile in Blake's direction. Destiny who was sitting on Blake's lap noticed her face turn red, and she looked away with a bashful look.

"Emphasis on dork." She said.

They heard Professor Oobleck over the speaker.

" _ **That concludes the matches for today… Please leave the coliseum in a-CALM AND ORDERLY FASHION!**_ "

"Come guys! Let's congratulate them!" Yang said.

Blake lifted Destiny off of her lap and walked with them out of the arena. Destiny noticed that Weiss had stopped in her tracks when she spotted a ship in the sky; Ruby had bumped into her accidently.

"Um… What are you doing?" Ruby asked.

"Weiss? Are you okay?" Destiny asked her.

A smile appeared on her face when she had recognized the ship.

"She's here." They heard Weiss say. Ruby and Destiny looked to one another perplexed. The next thing they knew, Weiss took off running.

" **WEISS!** " Ruby shouted, " **HEY! WAIT!** "

Destiny had shouted, " **RUBY! WEISS! HEY! WAIT FOR ME!** "

Destiny ran for them; doing her best to catch up with the two girls. As she ran for a young teenage girl stood just a few inches from Destiny was and she watched as they ran after Weiss.

( _ **Ending Theme: Naruto Shippuden Ending 2**_ )


	4. Chapter 4: A Father Like No Other

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **Three Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _Three days came and went since Team RWBY found and took in Destiny too Beacon Academy; even though it's only been for a short time, it feels like that she has been there forever. True they knew so little about her, but it feels like that they've known her for their whole lives; even Team JNPR had felt the same way. Destiny seemed to have adjusted to her surrounding despite being around Beacon and both of the teams for three short days. During those three days she either spent her time with team RWBY and during the times with them they would play games._

 _Today however wasn't one of those days just to have fun and such. At first things had started out fine; Destiny had eaten breakfast with them and they chatted with one another; usually they would tell her about their friends. Afterwards they had started to play a game of hide-and-seek, and it was actually pretty fun, that is until around the 5th time that they played. Team RWBY was looking for Destiny and had started to get worried when they couldn't hear her calling out. Blake had finally found her but when she did, she was on the floor, clutching her chest, and practically gasping for air, despite the fact that medicine was still pumping to her heart._

 _Their first instinct of course was to call for help, but Destiny had told them not too, still afraid that the White Fang might be looking for her. Of course, they didn't think it was a good idea, but ultimately Destiny had begged them not to, and that made them take her straight back to the dorms, where she had ultimately passed out from the pain. About an hour had already and she didn't really show signs of waking up which scared her._

 _Blake sat beside where she slept, and Ruby was pacing around the room with a worried look on her face. Yang was drumming her fingers on the table she sat beside and Weiss was tapping her foot. Honestly, all of them were worried, and why wouldn't they be? A child's life could be at stake and they couldn't even take her a hospital since the White Fang could still be out there searching._

 _All of them were worried sick._

 _Finally after an hour they finally heard Destiny let out a groan; her eye had started to open. "_ _ **DESTINY!**_ " _They cried out; all of them group hugged her, catching her by surprise. They broke out of the hug when they heard Destiny let out a pained groan._

" _How are you feeling?" Weiss asked her._

" _Are you okay?" Ruby asked immediately after her._

 _Blake had asked, "Are you feeling ill?"_

" _Does your chest still hurt?" Yang asked her._

 _Destiny had said calmly, "Guys, I'm okay, really."_

" _You scared us half to death though." Ruby said, "After we saw the way you were and you said not to take you to the hospital-"_

" _I'm fine." Destiny said patting Ruby on the shoulder, "It's just… A sort of thing that happens."_

" _You mean this happens a lot?" Blake asked her._

 _Destiny shook her head, "It just happens at random. Even my dad doesn't know it's pattern. Sometimes it comes back for a long time and sometimes it'll come the week after. Like I said, it's just random."_

" _And your sure that there's no way of knowing when it's about to happen?" Yang asked just be sure._

 _Destiny shook her head sadly; Team RWBY eyes softened, now they had to be really careful. "Anything else we need to know?" Weiss asked curiously._

" _About my condition?" Destiny said, "Not really much, just when it happens I have to stay in bed for awhile."_

" _Well in that case, we won't be going outside again." Weiss said, "If it really does come at random it could be caused by stress, and you need your rest."_

" _Oh." The little girl said sadly._

" _Hey, don't worry." Yang said with a reassured smile, "We can find other ways to have fun while indoors! And I think this is the perfect time to put my plan into action!"_

 _Destiny tilted her head slightly as did Ruby, Weiss and Blake. "Really?" Destiny asked curiously, "What is it?"_

 _Yang raised her fist in the air and shouted, "_ _ **SLEEP OVER!**_ "

 _Of course Ruby, Weiss, and Blake were surprised to hear this; Destiny on the other hand was excited._

* * *

- _ **Present**_ -

Ruby and Destiny managed to catch up with Weiss who was way ahead of them in the front of the courtyard; towards the docks where all the ships had landed.

" **HEY! WEISS!** " Destiny called out, " **WHY ARE YOU ACTING ALL EXCITED!?** "

" **YEAH WEISS, WHAT IS THE BIG DEAL!?** " Ruby shouted, " **WHAT WERE YOU TALKING ABOUT BEFORE!? WHO IS SHE?!** "

Weiss stopped in her tracks when she saw the ship dock. The ship opened and they saw a young woman with her hair tied into a bun, stepped out with her hands behind her back and had stood straight and with Atlas personal by her side.

Weiss still had a smile on her face, "Winter…" Was all she had said.

"Winter?" Destiny curiously, before realizing, "Hold on, isn't she your-?"

"Your sister you told us about?" Ruby finished for her.

Weiss nodded before calling out to her.

" **WINTER!** " She yelled.

Winter took notice of her younger sister's presence and Ruby's; although she had given a curious eye over in Destiny's direction. The child couldn't help but shrink just by how intimidating she looked; then again she is of the military, so Weiss had told. "Winter! I'm so happy to see you!" Weiss said with excitement, "Oh wait, I mean… Your presence honors us."

Winter took a look around the area. Finally she spoke, "Beacon. It has been a long time. The air feels… Different."

"Well, I mean it is fall." Ruby said, "So I guess it's probably colder."

"Yeah, maybe." Destiny said.

Weiss bonked Destiny on the head, and punched Ruby in the arm causing her to be paralyzed with pain, while Destiny rubbed the spot where Weiss hit her.

"So, what are you doing here?" Weiss asked her sister

"That information is classified." Winter replied.

"Oh, right, well, how long are you staying?"

"That's also classified."

"Right, right, of course."

Destiny stood there twiddling her thumbs while Ruby looked away awkwardly.

"Well… This is… Nice!" Ruby said, trying to lighten the mood.

"Yeah, it is!" Destiny said, trying to help out, "I guess."

Weiss said excitedly, "Winter, you're going to love it here! Now I know you travel a lot, but so much of Beacon is different from Atlas! So is Vale, the government and the schools are completely different! I mean, can you believe that, I sure as-"

"Weiss." Winter said stopping her, "I'm well aware of how each of the kingdoms handles its own… _**Bureaucracy**_. However that is not the reason why I came here."

"Right, I'm sorry."

"Nor did I come here to watch my own blood fail so miserably in battle. But it looks as though I have no choice in the matter."

"Fail? But we won!"

"Only a novice would refer to that as a victory. I counted at least three strikes missed on your opponent."

Thus there was silence among them, only the sound of birds tweeting were heard. "Leave us." Winter told her men; They complied and gave them space.

Winter let out a sigh and asked with a bit more friendlier tone to Weiss, "So… How have you been?"

This had surprised Destiny and Ruby a bit since she talked a more friendlier tone; But than again, she is her sister.

Weiss had immediately responded, "Oh, I've been splendid! Thank you for asking! It just so happens that I'm in the top ranking of our sparring class. As for the rest of my studies, it's been going wonderfully too and-"

All of sudden Winter had smacked Weiss right on the head, stopping her before she could finish her sentence; a bump was formed.

"Silence you boob!" She shouted before saying, "I don't recall asking about your ranking! I simply asked how you've been. Have you been eating properly? Are you taking up any hobbies? Have you been making new friends?

"Well, there's Ruby and Destiny." Weiss replied with honesty.

"Boop." Ruby said poking her at the head where a bump was formed.

"Hi." Destiny said to Winter while waving.

Winter turned to Ruby, "I see, so this is the leader that you spoke of in your letter." She gave Ruby but a glance about how she looked, "How appropriately... _**underwhelming**_."

Ruby couldn't help but give a quizzical look not really sure if she should take it as an compliment, "Um… Thank you?"

Winter turned over to Destiny; she couldn't help but hide behind Ruby. "Although, I don't believe Weiss has ever mentioned you before, Destiny was it? If it's alright, may I ask who you are exactly?"

Destiny came out from behind, "Oh, me? Um… I'm just Blake's cousin." Destiny said nervously, "From Vacuole. I'm… Just here visiting until the Vytal Festival is over."

Winter gave her a questioning look, "Interesting." Was the only thing she said before actually saying to them, "None the less, I wish to thank you both, for taking an interest in my sister."

Destiny smiled kindly, "Oh, well, your welcome."

"Yes!" Ruby added on while bowing, "The honor is in our, uh… Court!"

Ruby tripped on her feet, almost losing her balance, but quickly regained her footing and laughed out of embarrassment. Winter had chuckled slightly.

"I have some business with your headmaster and the general." Winter said, "But seeing as I am early, why don't you take me to your quarters?"

"Wait, really?" Weiss asked.

Winter replied, "Yes. I wish to inspect them just to see if their up to my personal standard."

"Yes, of course!" Weiss said leading the way, "Just so you know, the bunk beds only look unstable."

Winter looked puzzled at that, "I'm sorry, bunk beds?"

Ruby and Destiny just stood there watching the two sisters as they walked away.

"Uh, yeah, so Destiny and I will catch up!" Ruby said before correcting herself, "Wait I mean- We will-Reconvene with you both, at a later juncture!"

"Um, yeah! We'll do just that! It was nice meeting you Miss Winter!" Destiny added, before feeling Ruby taking her hand; with that they both walked away.

* * *

- _ **Three Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _Team RWBY was setting up everything that was needed for the sleepover that they were planning on having with Team JNPR. They were setting up everything in the living room area since the rooms were a bit cramped; and considering that they were going to have nine people. Destiny sat on the couch just watching them as they chose what board game they were going to play and snacks they were going to have; they were working fast since the sun had started to set, and they had just gotten back from the store._

 _They had just put the final touch of the sleepover._

" _There we go!" Ruby said triumphantly, "Objective complete!"_

 _Destiny looking around seeing nine sleeping bags one of them having a cartoon bear on it. She looked and saw various snacks and choices of films to watch. Destiny still had a nervous look on her face._

" _Hey Dessie, what's wrong?" Yang asked._

" _Hmm, I don't know about this." Destiny said._

" _Hey don't worry." Ruby said, "If your not a fan of horror film, we have plenty of others to watch."_

" _No it's not that." Destiny said, "It's just that…"_

" _It's just what?" Blake asked her curiously._

" _Well it's just…" Destiny replied, playing with her hair a bit, "I've, never actually had a sleepover, or been to a sleepover before. To be honest, I don't really have a lot of friends so…"_

 _Destiny started to mumble her words; something they couldn't really understand ; they saw that she had a sad look on her face._

" _Hey, Destiny, don't look so sad." Weiss said to her._

" _Yeah! This sleepover is gonna be fun!" Ruby said._

" _But what if… What if your friends don't like me?" The child asked them, "What if you all don't like me?"_

 _Team RWBY of course were confused by this, but Yang decided to lighten the mood. Yang went over and lightly pinched her cheeks; making her smile. Ruby snicker and Blake and Weiss kept themselves from laughing at how silly she looked._

" _Come on, you can't look sad at a sleepover!" Yang said cheering her up, "Like they say, no one likes a party pooper!"_

 _Yang let go of her cheeks and started to tickle her causing her to laugh._

 _They soon heard a knock at the door._

" _Oh hey! They're here!" Ruby said with a smile._

 _Destiny pretty much shrunk again as Ruby practically skipped over to the door. Yang patted Destiny 's head in a comforting way. "Don't be nervous Dessie. Just take a deep breath and relax, and just have fun with it."_

 _Destiny didn't say anything, all she did was play with her hair nervously._

 _Blake went over to her and patted her on the head as well._

" _Yang's right." Blake said with a warm smile, "It'll be alright. Like we said before, team JNPR is our friends, think of this as a way to get to know them."_

 _Destiny gulped and nodded her head, "Okay… I'll try."_

* * *

- _ **Present**_ -

Ruby and Destiny sat next to each other both of them enjoying a piece of cotton candy that they had gotten at one of the stands nearby. Ruby was enjoying every taste of it, Destiny on the other hand, looked a bit down; Ruby noticed this.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Ruby asked her getting her attention, "Is the cotton candy not good?"

Destiny shook her head, "It's not that, the cotton candy is delicious! It's just…"

Ruby pretty much drew her own conclusion just by the way she looked.

"You still thinking about your dad?" Ruby asked her.

Destiny nodded her head as she took a bite from her cotton candy. "I just… I really miss him. It's hard not to see him when I was in the hands of the White Fang, and with the Vytal Festival here… It's just well, I'm not really sure how to describe it."

Ruby patted her on the shoulder, "I can understand why it's hard to be away from him."

"He told me a lot of things about the Vytal Festival. He said that with every chance he got, he would take my mom there to see all kinds of fights and play games from the stands they found. He even promised me to take me to this Vytal Festival. Don't get me wrong, it's really fun, but, I wish he was here to enjoy it with me."

Ruby then pulled her in for a comforting hug, "I'm sure you'll see him again. At the very least you got me, my team and JNPR."

Destiny nodded her head, "I just hope it's soon though. I really want to see him."

"I know Dessie, I know." Ruby said patting her back, "Hey, what do you say we head back to the fairgrounds and play a video game?"

Destiny had replied, "I'd like that a lot."

They got up and proceeded to go to the dormitories building, just as they were about half way when they heard the sounds of sword clashing in the distance. They both turned and saw a large crowd of people and-

"Hey, isn't that Miss Winter?" Destiny asked Ruby.

Ruby looked closely and saw a resemblance. "Hey I think you're right, come on!" Ruby and Destiny made their through the crowd till they got to the front where they notice Weiss standing their with a look on her face. Destiny saw what appeared to be an older man with black hair and bearing a sword that was also a gun fighting against Winter.

"Weiss, what's going on!?" Destiny asked her.

Weiss turned back and said, "Some crazy guy just showed up and started attacking my sister!"

"Oh no!" Ruby said worriedly, "Who would do such a-!?"

Ruby looked and saw the man; she suddenly let out a squee, when she had recognized him.

" **OH MY GOD THAT'S MY UNCLE!** " Ruby shouted.

"What?" Weiss said with disbelief.

"Your uncle?" Destiny said.

" **KICK HER BUTT UNCLE QROW!** " Ruby shouted; pretty much egging the guy on.

" **TEACH HIM RESPECT WINTER!** " Weiss shouted to her sister.

Destiny couldn't believe what she was hearing let alone see what was happening. In a matter of just one day she met Weiss's sister and now she was seeing Ruby and Yang's uncle fight; the great uncle that had taught Ruby how to fight with her Crescent Rose, the one that she had always talked about. She couldn't believe this was happening right now at this very moment.

A teenage girl baring short black hair stood just on the opposite side of where the three girls were standing. She was watching as the fight progressed and she couldn't help but smirk.

" _ **Dusty Old Qrow**_." She said to herself, "And here I was beginning to think he wouldn't show."

She turned and looked in the crowd and saw Mercury Black enter. She raised an eyebrow and saw that he had a nervous look on his face when he saw Qrow. He turned and quickly ran. "How curious." The girl said as she watched him run.

The girl turned and quickly followed Mercury.

The fight between Qrow and Winter pressed on; they were always sure the attacks were at each other and didn't hit any of the students that was around to watch the fight. Eventually Winter had run up a pillar and dodged the bullets that Qrow had fired at her. Winter ran with great agility and dodged every bullet; Qrow ran with the same agility managing to stay on target until finally he managed to get her at her feet causing a cloud to appear.

Winter emerged from the cloud and flew towards Qrow, drawing another sword in her other saber. She managed to hit Qrow and they both toppled onto the ground back to the courtyard. Once again swords clashed with one another, almost no one managed to catch their movements. Winter had managed to push Qrow back a good distance.

A circle appeared beneath her feet and with a simple movement of her saber she summoned what appeared to be blue birds that flew straight towards him causing him to be blinded; Winter smiled with confidence. She was caught by surprise when Qrow when a sudden slash came heading her way; luckily she managed to dodge. The same magic circle appeared just behind Winter, no doubt she was preparing to charge at him again.

Qrow's sword began to change shape, and just when Winter was about to attack, Qrow had suddenly retracted his weapon, and placed it back in his holster which was on his back which had left Winter perplexed. Qrow smirked and pretty much taunted her to come at her.

With a scream she went flying towards Qrow with her sword armed-

" **SCHNEE!** "

The sword was just at Qrow's neck. Winter turned and saw that it was her general. General Ironwood to be precise.

"General Ironwood, sir!" Winter said as she stood straight.

"What in the world do you think your doing?" Ironwood asked her.

"He started the altercations sir!" Winter immediately explained.

Qrow put his hands behind his head, "Actually that's not true. She attacked me first."

Ironwood raised his eyebrow; he turned to Winter, "Is that true?"

Winter didn't reply she just turned away not making eye contact with him. That had pretty much answered his question. He turned over to Qrow.

"And you…" Ironwood said.

Qrow looked over at him and pointed himself as if to ask, "Are you talking to me?"

"What in the world are you doing here?" Ironwood asked him.

"I could be asking you the same thing." Qrow said to him.

"I-"

A voice had cut Ironwood off, "Now, now."

It was revealed to be Ozpin and by his side was Glynda Goodwitch; when Ozpin was seen by Ruby and Weiss they made sure that they blend into the crowd so that Destiny would be hidden.

"Is that your headmaster?" Destiny asked them.

"Yeah." Ruby replied.

"Stay in the crowd, we can't let him see you!" Weiss said.

Destiny nodded her head, and stayed by Ruby and Weiss's side.

"There is a sanction fight around the corner at the coliseum." Ozpin said, "That I can assure has better seats… and popcorn."

"Break it up everyone, shows over!" Glynda said to the crowd of students, "We will take care of this mess!"

"Let's go." Ironwood said to Winter before fixing his tie. They walked away from the courtyard and Ruby saw that Penny was just following close behind Ironwood.

Penny noticed Ruby and let out a friendly smile as she waved to her. Ruby waved back returning the smile before lunging at her uncle's arm.

" **UNCLE QROW!** " Ruby shouted, hugging his arm as if she were a monkey, "Hi there!"

Qrow lifted his arm along with Ruby; Ruby couldn't help but kick her legs up with excitement.

"It is so good to see you!" Ruby said, "Hey didja ya miss me!? Didja miss me!?"

"Nope." Qrow said with a smirk.

He went ahead to pat Ruby on the head before he heard his name called by Ozpin.

"Qrow!" Ozpin said, "A word please."

Ruby slipped from Qrow's arm and fell to the floor. After a few seconds she recovered and stood up. Qrow leaned over, "I think I'm in trouble."

"You did kind of tear up the courtyard." Ruby said with a smile.

Qrow smirked as well, "Yeah I did." Both him and Ruby brofisted each other, "Catch you later kiddo."

Thus Qrow went to join up with Ozpin and Glynda who had just finished fixing up the courtyard. Weiss and Destiny soon joined up with Ruby.

"And suddenly your recklessness makes sense." Weiss couldn't help but say.

"Your just mad because he whooped butt." Ruby said nudging her arm.

Weiss gave her a look, "That was a draw at best."

Destiny looked to over to Qrow, "So that really was your uncle?" She asked Ruby.

Ruby smiled and nodded, "Yup that was him alright! He's pretty cool isn't he?"

Destiny smiled and nodded before asking, "Do you think you can introduce me later?"

"Yeah sure! Maybe tomorrow when he's not talking to Ozpin." Ruby said with a smile.

Weiss then pointed out, "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

Ruby said to Weiss with a smile, "Of course! Besides what could go wrong?"

* * *

- _ **Three Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _The sleepover that Yang had planned for the whole gang was going perfectly well. Destiny's nervousness seemed to have just fade away after she spent actual time with Team JNPR. They had all kinds of fun with horror films and video games and even board games; Ruby, Weiss, Nora and even Jaune suffered what many would call a feels moment when they played the board game known as_ _ **Remnant: The Game**_ _. Destiny found it kind of silly but spoke too soon when the same thing happened to her._

 _Currently they were now playing Truth or Dare. Nora had just did a dare , as did Weiss which was put makeup on each other with their eyes shut and Yang was just finishing up telling the truth._

" _... And then after I beated up Junior's henchmen, or well, henchwomen and then after that I punched him right out the window!"_

 _Everyone was amazed by that, story about how she was in Juniors Bar. "And that really happened?" Blake asked turning to Ruby._

" _Well to be fair the fight was over by the time I got there." Ruby said with a smile._

" _Fighting Junior and his men must've been tough for you though." Jaune said_

 _Yang replied feeling proud, "Please, I deal with jerks like them on a daily basis."_

" _It's true, she does!" Ruby said._

" _What were you doing there in the first place anyway?" Ren asked._

 _Yang replied to Ren, "That's a story saved for another day." She had then turned to Pyrrha, "Alrighty it's your turn, which are you going to pick? Truth or dare?"_

 _Pyrrha thought about that for a moment, "I think I'll pick… Truth this time."_

" _You have a question for her Destiny?" Weiss asked Destiny, as she struggled to get the makeup off of her face._

" _Okay, okay, um…" Destiny said before thinking of a question, "Out of all of the stories you heard which was your favorite story before you would go to sleep?"_

" _My favorite story before I went to sleep?" Pyrrha said, "Hmm, well let me see. … If I had to pick one… It would have to be…_ _ **The Story of the Seasons**_."

 _Everyone in the room seemed to go "Oooh" at that._

" _That's a really good one!" Jaune said with a smile._

" _Yeah, good choice!" Blake said._

" _You've love the Story of the Seasons too?" Destiny said, "That one's always been my favorite."_

" _You've heard of the story too?" Ren asked._

 _Destiny smiled and nodded, "Sometimes I ask dad to tell me that story every night before bed."_

" _Aww, that's really sweet of your father." Pyrrha said, "Sometimes when I was little, whenever I sometimes played pretend. My mother would be the old wizard and I would play as the four maidens."_

 _Destiny giggled at that, "Me too, my dad would do an impression of the Wizard and I would pretend to be the maidens."_

 _Yang had finally said, "Okay, Dessie, it's your turn! Truth or dare?"_

" _How about… Truth?" Destiny said._

" _Well… Since we're on the topic, what's your father like?" Jaune asked Destiny, "If you don't mind telling us about him that is."_

 _Destiny smiled and twiddled her thumbs, "Where do I begin about him… For as long as I can remember it's always just been me and my father. He's not really home that often, but always does his best to spend time with me. Many might not see him as a nice person, but he really is sweet when you get to know him. He's sweet to me and my best friend, and is pretty funny too."_

" _When you say many don't see him as a nice person, do you mean to say he's tough around the edges?" Ruby asked._

 _Destiny seemed to answer a bit hesitantly at that, "Umm, I suppose you could call it that."_

" _Wait, you said that he was barely home?" Ren mentioned, "So you don't really see him?"_

" _Yeah." Destiny said, "We're not exactly rolling in money as a friend of mine would say, so he has to work a lot so that we wouldn't lose our home, and pay for my medicine. I miss him when he's at work but I know that it's not his fault that he's away so much. He still tries to be there for me, and I'm grateful to him for that."_

" _You must really love him than." Blake said._

" _Yeah." She replied to Blake, "He is my dad after all. I'll always love him no matter what he does, like my mom did."_

 _Everyone seemed to have an "aww" moment at what Destiny had told them, but they saw that she had a sad look on her face at thought of her dad. Not wanting her to feel sad, Ruby quickly went ahead to lighten the mood, "Hey, we still have the night ahead of us! Why don't we watch a children's film this time?"_

" _Yeah!" Nora said joining in on it, "I know the perfect film we can watch! It's called My Neighbor Catario!"_

" _That sounds like a good movie!" Ruby said with a smile._

 _They turned to Destiny. "What do you say Dessie?" Yang asked her, "One more movie before we hit the hay?"_

 _Destiny turned her head to the side, and took a moment to think. After but a brief moment, she had thought of answer. "I guess, one more movie couldn't hurt."_

 _All of them cheered and went ahead to get the snacks. Destiny of course helped gather snacks for the movie. While they half way through the film each and every one of them fell asleep as the movie went on. Everyone was asleep on each others shoulders and they were tangled in blankets as the movie went on. However, even though, they were all asleep soundly in their own dreamland, a girl had picked up the remote for the television provided, and with a press of a button it turned off._

* * *

- _ **Present; Later that Day**_ -

Mercury had told Cinder everything on what he saw later that afternoon, this left Cinder a little distraught.

"And your sure of this?" Cinder asked as she paced in the room.

"He had bad hair, a scythe and smelled like my dad after a long day." Mercury said sitting on a chair pretzel style, "There's no mistaking it, it was _**him**_."

"This is bad." Emerald said nervously, before asking Cinder, "What do we do?"

Cinder began to think of what to do exactly, since they didn't anticipate Qrow arriving at Beacon, did indeed. As Cinder thought about what to do, they failed to notice a girl with short black hair sat within the branches of a tree just outside of their room, who was listening to the conversation that they were having.

"Yes… I wonder, what will you do?" She asked with a smirk.

Finally Cinder thought of an answer, "Nothing." She heard Cinder say to Emerald and Mercury, "We stay the course of the plan. They have no idea who are, so we have no reason to worry."

"Interesting choice." The girl said, as she sat forward.

Cinder went over to the table and picked up her scroll. "Besides, the last of the heavy lifting is being taken care of, thanks to our clever little friend."

An icon of a pawn popped up in the of her scroll and it looked as though she had finished downloading something. "Ah, speaking of which…" Cinder said, "It appears that we have a new access point."

"Access point?" The girl outside said, raising an eyebrow.

"Anywhere good?" Emerald asked.

"You could say." Cinder replied, "Go to your rooms, I'll prepare everything for tomorrow."

Emerald and Mercury nodded and they went to get some rest. Just as they left the room, Neo had entered.

"Ah, Neo." Cinder greeted, not taking her eyes off her scroll, "How goes for the search for our little girl?"

Neo replied, "The White Fang thinks they might've found something. They believe that she might be here, hiding somewhere in Beacon."

Cinder smiled, and looked up, "Perfect, than this means it'll make things so much easier."

"What exactly are you planning on doing with her anyway?" Neo asked her, "I thought you made it clear you wanted the White Fang to take her as a hostage?"

"Oh, Neo, how navie you are." She said, picking up her head to look at her, "That little girl has so much _**potential**_ for this plan, and her father was indeed a fool to try and hide her _**secret**_ from the world."

"You _**know**_ he had his reasons."

"Even so, he was still fool to try and keep her hidden."

"What will you do when you find her? You won't try to hurt her will you?"

"Don't tell me your starting back out now?"

"No, of course not. I just need to understand, if you do find her, you won't try to hurt her?"

"You have no reason to worry Neo. I won't bring harm to the girl nor will I attempt to capture her or make contact. She'll _**play her part**_ when the time comes, and when she does, we'll be ready. But for now…"

Cinder suddenly pulled up photographs of students onto her scroll. It appeared that she was choosing. She had soon picked her candidates.

"Let's give the crowd a good fight…"

( _ **Ending Theme: Naruto Shippuden Ending 2**_ )


	5. Chapter 5: A Secret Uncovered

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **Two Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _It was already the start of the new week, and team RWBY was still unsure to about Destiny's story with the White Fang and her father. True just yesterday she had told them a little bit about her father but that's all she would say. They could sort of understand why she wouldn't really talk about it, but to be honest it was starting to kill them. Even team JNPR were on the verge of going insane just thinking about it._

 _It was late at night in the dorm, and everyone was sound asleep, since they had a long day. Everyone in the room where team RWBY slept was sound asleep; all except one. Blake awoke to the sounds of sniffles and choked sobs; curious to what it could be, Blake went to light a candle into a lamp, so that the others wouldn't be woken up. When she did she saw that Destiny wasn't beside her, instead she saw the bathroom door opened slightly and heard the crying from in there._

 _Slowly and quietly, Blake gotten out of bed and tiptoed to the bathroom. When she peeked inside it was pitch black, but she heard the sobs clearer now. She bought up the light, but jumped at the sight of a shadowy figure, kneeled beside Destiny, and holding her in her arms, while massaging her back, and whispering something comforting to her. She couldn't tell but she clearly saw that it was teenage girl; she just couldn't see what she looked like. The girl covered in shadow appeared to look up to Blake which had startled her slightly._

 _Blake shut her eyes and opened them again, and when she did, the girl was gone._

" _Destiny?" Blake said, turning on the light and blowing out the candle._

 _Destiny picked up her head and Blake saw her eye was bloodshot red from crying. Blake set down the lamp nearby and approached her. "Is everything okay?" She asked her._

 _Destiny replied as she choked, "I… I had a bad dream… And now I can't sleep…"_

 _Blake sat by her side and pulled her in her lap, "Hey… It's okay." Blake said massaging her back, "I know bad dreams are scary, but… not sleeping isn't good for you either."_

" _I… I know." Destiny said, "But I can't help it… I'm just… I'm just afraid to go back to sleep… I'm afraid that if I do, I'll end up going through it again…"_

 _Blake grew even more curious, "What, was your dream about exactly?"_

 _Destiny gave out a shaky breath and she said, "... My dad and I… We were, in a house, at a hill… where him and mom used to stay… Things were okay at first, but then, the Grimm, and the White Fang started attacking, and my dad, he tried to protect me from them… and than they… he…" The child began to cry again, and Blake drew her own conclusion._

 _Blake massaged her back and head, and began to shush, trying to ease her from crying. It wasn't long until she heard the rest of her teammates wake up from her slumber. They turned on the light and went to the bathroom. "Blake? Is everything okay?" Ruby said with tired eyes._

" _I'm fine Ruby." Blake reassured her, "Really, it's just…"_

 _Yang and Weiss came into view and they noticed Destiny crying._

" _Dessie?" Yang said before asking Blake, "Hey, what's going on? Why is she crying?"_

" _Destiny had a bad dream." Blake explained, "She's afraid to go to sleep now."_

" _Oh, you poor thing." Weiss said going over to her, "It must've been a really bad one, if your up like this."_

" _Well is there anything we can do?" Ruby asked with concern, "Can we get you a glass of milk and some cookies to help you sleep?"_

" _Ruby that'll just keep her more awake!" Weiss said, "We want to help her sleep not give her a sugar rush!"_

" _But it helps me sleep." Ruby said._

" _That's because your you." Yang said giving her a noggy to which Ruby tried to escape her grasp._

 _Blake looked to Destiny, "What can we do?_

 _Destiny rubbed her runny nose and her eyes, slightly moving her eye patch. "Well…" She said with a choked sob, "Whenever… I have a bad dream, my dad, would play a recording of my mom singing…"_

" _Okay, that's good!" Yang said, "Do you have a recording of it with you right now?"_

 _Destiny sadly shook her head. Team RWBY tried to think of a solution but none came to mind; that is until they all turned to Weiss._

 _Weiss looked at them with confusion, "What?"_

" _Weiss, you said your good with singing." Ruby pointed out, "Maybe you can help out."_

 _Weiss turned slightly red, "Me? Well, I-I'm not sure if I-"_

" _Please Weiss!" Yang said, "For Dessie!"_

 _Weiss was about to make it into an argument but looked at Destiny, who was still in tears. Ultimately Weiss sighed with defeat. "Alright, I'll do it." Weiss approached Destiny and kneeled by her side; she gave a warm smile to the little girl._

" _You can really sing?" Destiny asked Weiss curiously, her eye still red from crying._

 _Weiss simply nodded her head in reply; she than cleared her throat and began to sing._

 _ **Dream of anything**_

 _ **I'll make it all come true**_

 _ **Everything you need**_

 _ **Is all I have for you**_

 _ **I'm forever**_

 _ **Always by your side**_

 _ **Whenever you need a friend,**_

 _ **Never far behind**_

 _ **If the stars all fall**_

 _ **When there's no more light**_

 _ **And the moon should crumble,**_

 _ **It will be alright**_

 _ **Don't you worry about the dark,**_

 _ **I will light up the night with the love in my heart.**_

 _ **I will burn like the sun,**_

 _ **I will keep you safe and warm**_

 _ **Like the smell of a rose on a summer's day**_

 _ **I will be there to take all of your fears away**_

 _ **With a touch of my hand I will take all your fears away**_

 _ **With a touch of my hand I will turn your life to,**_

 _ **Gold**_

 _ **With a touch of my hand I will turn your life to**_

 _ **Gold**_

 _As Weiss finished up the song, they had seen that Destiny was already sound asleep, in Blake's arms. All of team RWBY sighed with relief when they saw that she was no longer crying but now sleeping soundly. "That was easier than I thought." Weiss said._

 _Ruby couldn't help but make a kitten face at the child's sleeping face._

" _She looks so cute while she's asleep!" Ruby whispered gently poking her cheek._

 _Weiss immediately slapped her hand away, "You're gonna end up waking her up again!" She said._

" _But she's adorable!" Ruby said as she continued. Yang noticed that Destiny was barely moving an inch as Ruby poked her cheek. "Huh, guess she must be a heavy sleeper." Yang said in her normal tone of voice, before sneaking a photo._

" _Yang!" Weiss said to her angrily._

" _What? She is cute when she sleeps, you can't deny that." Yang said with a smile._

" _We should get some rest." Blake suggested to the team, "We have a long day tomorrow."_

" _Right, I have to pick up some more medicine for her tomorrow." Weiss before going over to the bed._

 _Ruby said with a hand raised, "I'll go with you tomorrow! You know just to keep you guys company."_

 _Weiss sighed and said, "Fine as long as you just go back to sleep. Like how we all should."_

 _The rest of the team nodded their heads. Blake picked Destiny up and they walked back to the where the beds were. When they did, they felt a sudden breeze enter the room. They were befuddled to find that the window to the outside was wide open. "Ruby! What did I tell you about opening the window in the middle of the night?" Weiss said._

" _Weiss, I didn't open that window." Ruby admitted, "It must've been Yang."_

" _Hey, don't go pointing fingers at me!" Yang said, "I didn't open it this time."_

" _And I was the first one to find Destiny in the bathroom." Blake said._

" _So…" Ruby said curiously, "If it wasn't any of us… Than who opened it?"_

 _The girls looked to each other puzzled. They at first thought it could be Sun, but than again it was late at night and he probably wouldn't visit at a time like this; It struck them as odd. Too tired to think about it, they decided to turn in. After shutting the window and turning off the light they all want to sleep._

 _The shadowy figure, that Blake saw before sat on the roof just above the room where Team RWBY had stayed in; she sat back and looked to the moon that was above in the night sky._

* * *

- _ **Present; Coliseum**_ -

Today was the start of the doubles round in the Vytal Festival. Everyone seemed to be more excited than before when the team battles had first started. Team RWBY sat within the stands along with Destiny who got to sit in her own chair, which she was happy with. She kicked her legs happily and with excitement.

"This is going to be so amazing!" Destiny said to Ruby who sat next to her, "I didn't even know the fights had doubles rounds."

"They also have the singles rounds too." Ruby said, "But you know they save those for last."

"I can't wait to see that." She said with a smile.

"You comfy in your chair?" Yang asked her.

Destiny nodded, "And I'm prepared for today's doubles round, I've enough snacks for everybody."

Destiny pulled out several different snacks, most being of candy. But she appeared to be carrying too much, and dropped some on the snacks on the floor.

Ruby helped out Destiny pick up some snacks, as did Weiss, Blake and Yang. Just when Destiny was gonna pick up the last snack someone picked it up for her. She picked up her head and found herself staring at a girl with long hair and a pair of bunny ears.

"Here, I think this is yours." She said with an Australian accent.

"Tha-thank you." Destiny said nervously, taking the bag of candy from her.

"Hi Velvet!" Ruby said with a smile.

The girl named Velvet looked to Ruby, "Hello Ruby, it's nice to see you."

Soon enough the rest of her team came into a view. "Hi guys!" Yang greeted the team, "How are you guys doing?"

"Doing well." A girl named Coco replied, "We're all prepared for the doubles round."

"Who's going to be the ones fighting for your team?" Blake asked.

"Myself and Yatsuhashi." Coco replied, "We'll be kicking some ass out there."

"I'm sure you guys will!" Yang said with a smile.

Velvet asked, "Who's the little girl with you?"

Weiss introduced them, "Oh, this is Destiny. She's Blake's cousin."

Team CFVY was surprised to hear this. "You have a cousin Blake?" Velvet asked her, "You never said anything about a cousin."

Blake gave a quick brief explanation, "She was dropped off here unexpectedly, she's only here until the Vytal Festival is over."

Coco gave Destiny a quick glance and smiled. "Love the eyepatch kid." Coco commented with a smile.

"Thanks." Destiny said, "I like your flower. It goes really great with your outfit." Coco smiled and chuckled, "Alright, a kid that has a taste in fashion. Give me a high five." Coco held up her hand and Destiny gave her the high five. "I like your cousin Blake." Coco said, "She has good taste."

They soon heard Professor Port over the speaker.

" _The randomization process is complete! Ladies and gentlemen your doubles tournament line-up! The first match will be… Coco Adel and Yatsuhashi Daichi of Beacon, vs. Emerald Sustrai and Mercury Black of Haven!_ "

"Looks like we're up first." Coco said, "Wish us luck." With that her and Yatsuhashi proceeded up to the stadium; on the opposite side, Emerald and Mercury proceeded up there as well. Team RWBY and Destiny along with Velvet and another teammate named Fox went straight to their seats. The four of them had gotten in the middle of the stadium, and the stage began to pick where they would fight exactly.

Coco glanced at Emeralds outfit, "Hey, love the outfit." Coco commented.

Emerald smirked, "I'll try not to get blood on it."

Yatsuhashi prepared himself by arming his weapon, "I can't promise that you'll leave here without a scratch."

"I _**won't**_ be the one bleeding." Emerald simply replied.

"Oh, I like her." Coco said.

The stage was set, but this time instead of being divided in halves it was divided in four. Their was field of grass, a city in ruin, a geyser field and a forest.

" _Three… Two… One… Begin!_ "

Both Emerald and Mercury backed up into the field if grass, confusing both Coco and Yatsuhashi. They didn't have time to think about their strategy when Coco began to open fire on the field, cutting all of the grass.

( _ **Song Starts: I'm The One Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

 _ **Welcome to the bloodbath, took it to the top!  
First-match death match; come and join the club!**_

When Coco finally cleared the grass they both saw that they were nowhere to be seen. That was until-

" **LOOK OUT!** " They heard Blake shout.

 _ **Can't stray your fate from a metal clad boot**_

 _ **You should give up now! Your retaliations moot! (Oh yeah!)**_

Mercury had suddenly jumped from the sky and about to attack Coco. She was pushed out of the way by Yatsuhashi, and he blocked Mercury's attack. He pushed Mercury back a great distance and he landed on his feet. Coco began to open fire with her gun, but Mercury ran quick with the help of his guns attached to his shoes.

Team SSSN sat in the crowd as well, watching the fight take place and the were colored impressed.

"Whoa, he's good!" Sun commented.

His fellow teammate Scarlet looked around; he saw that Emerald was nowhere to be seen.

"Yeah, but where's the girl?" He said, seeing as how he couldn't see her.

Destiny watched as the fight continued. As she watched the movements of Mercury and thought about Emerald; she still had the feeling that she had seen them before. She couldn't shake the feeling as the fight progressed.

" _The name Mercury Black… The way he fights… and the name Emerald..._ " Destiny said in her thoughts, " _I know them from somewhere… I just can't remember where… Why, why can't I remember?_ "

Mercury charged the both of them, and started to attack them head on.

 _ **You wanna mess around? Well come on let's go!**_

 _ **Got no time to waste, so let's put up a show!**_

Coco aimed her weapon at Mercury, but he jumped above when she began to fire. He jumped on the gun and kicked her in the head; Yatsuhashi attacked to from behind, and Mercury dodged with ease.

He jumped attempting to attack him, but Yatsuhashi punched him in his side. It didn't matter however when Mercury did a flip and forced Coco to point her gun at Yatsuhashi's stomach.

 _ **I'm the one the that your mother said,**_

" _ **Don't mess with them or you'll end up dead!"**_

 _ **Dead, dead, dead, and they'll follow where you are!**_

Coco retracted her gun so that it was a bag again. She swung her bag, but Mercury had done several flips to gain distance from her. Than he fired his projectiles at Coco and Yatsuhashi; they both batted away the projectiles like it was nothing. Though when they turned back, they saw that he created a tornado, of projectiles just by breakdancing.

 _ **You're looking tall!**_

 _ **You're looking tough!**_

 _ **But sorry dude it's not enough!**_

 _ **You need to bring twenty four men to win this duel!**_

He kicked over his projectiles over to Coco and Yatsuhashi, catching them by surprise. They were blinded in the smoke and couldn't see through the thick smoke. When the smoke cleared, Mercury was suddenly behind them. Grabbing them both by their hands and pulled them away; he delivered them both strong and powerful kicks.

 _ **The bigger than they are, the more they will bleed!**_

 _ **The deeper the scars; they won't heal**_

 _ **Buckets of pain, as they lie there in shame!  
No way to move this is it!**_

He managed to trip Coco, and she lost her footing. Just as she stood, a chain suddenly emerged from the forest and wrapped around Coco's waist. Thus she was pulled into the forest.

" **COCO!** " Yatsuhashi yelled.

Mercury attacked from behind, and delivered a kick. Right when he was about to deliver another, Yatsuhashi grabbed him by the neck and threw him into the geyser fields. He jumped in the air and attacked Mercury with his swords; Mercury managed to block the sword with his feet, causing a tremendous shockwave.

 _ **I'm the one!**_

 _ **I was born in a nightmare of mayhem, they said!**_

They both continued to attack one another until Mercury had gotten the upper hand. He kicked him and he fell on his back. His head happened to land on a geyser that was active.

 _ **I'm no gun!**_

 _ **We've operated, in calamity higher!**_

 _ **I am done!**_

 _ **I can tell what you're thinking, won't stop by your way!**_

The geyser went off and Yatsuhashi cried out in pain. He quickly got up trying to shake the ringing in his ears. Than Mercury attacked him head on.

 _ **Delusions!**_

 _ **And I'll steal till your blind,**_

 _ **And defeat you from inside your mind!**_

Coco was dragged into the forest until she had hit a tree. She managed to shake off the pain, but found something missing from her face. She saw that her shades were shattered.

( _ **Song Ends**_ )

"I take it back." She said aloud, "I _**don't**_ like her."

A shot was fired from the tree and Coco was quick to dodge. She had done many flips to gain distance from her as Emerald continued to fire. Coco pulled out her gun and started to fire on Emerald's position. Emerald quickly moved between trees as she returned fire. She kept doing this up until Coco lost sight of her.

"Damn it!" Coco said.

Coco heard someone behind her.

"Coco!"

She turned and saw that it was her teammate Yatsuhashi.

"Watch out, she's in the trees!" Coco said.

Suddenly she heard the buzzer go off throughout the stadium; She looked to the screen.

Professor Port announced, " _And with that, final blow_ _Yatsuhashi has been eliminated!_ "

" **WHAT!?** " Coco exclaimed. She turned around and saw that Yatsuhashi was nowhere to be seen. At this point she began to shake and tremble with fear. Her head darted all over the place trying to find her opponent.

"Damn." Coco cursed.

She kept trying to find her opponent; unfortunately, she did not notice her appear right behind her. With just one attack Coco was sent flying through the air and landed back in the middle of the stadium. Emerald came back out, with a smirk, and swinging around her weapon.

The final buzzer sounded off again. Oobleck had announced, " _And with an amazing upset, Emerald and Mercury are victorious!_ "

Team RWBY and the rest of team CFVY were shocked to see that both Coco and Yatsuhashi had lost the fight.

"Coco?" Velvet said with concern and her hand over her mouth.

Fox gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder. Ruby turned to talk to Destiny but noticed that she was groaning; she was holding her head like it was about to fall off.

"Destiny?" Ruby said with concern, "Are you okay?"

Destiny shook off the pain and turned to Ruby, "I'm alright." She said with a bit of agony in her voice, "My head is hurting a little…" As Ruby and the others comforted her, just asking if she was alright, they failed to notice Cinder sitting behind them. She smiled, eyeing Destiny in particular.

" _ **So it is true.**_ " Cinder thought in her head, " _ **She really is here…**_ "

With that Cinder got up from her seat and walked away without being noticed by the little girl.

* * *

- _ **Two Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _The very next morning, Ruby, Weiss, and Destiny went back into the city, to go pick up some more of the pain medicine. They were almost where they needed to be when they heard Destiny's stomach growl._

" _Ugh…"The little one groaned, "I'm really hungry…"_

" _I told you it wasn't a good idea to skip out on breakfast." Weiss scolded her._

" _I couldn't help it…" Destiny said, "I wanted to hang with you guys just this once and you guys were about to leave."_

 _Ruby than quickly reassured her, "Weiss, why don't I take her to the ice cream parlor nearby."_

" _Are you sure that's a good idea, to give ice cream as breakfast?"_

" _Well it is better than nothing. Plus it's a good way to wake up!"_

 _Weiss sighed in defeat, knowing that their was no way of changing her mind. "Alright if you must. Just make sure not to give her too much."_

" _I will make no such promises." Ruby said with a devious smile; she than turned to Destiny, "Come on, let's go!"_

 _Destiny smiled and nodded, she than followed Ruby. Shortly after, Ruby and Destiny sat in the ice cream parlor eating away at the banana splits that were in front of them. Although both of them were eating it so fast that they equally suffered from brain freeze. However they were able to laugh it off, since they saw the look on each others faces._

 _It wasn't long till they were both stuffed from the banana split and drinks that they both had afterwards. Destiny and Ruby both let out a burp._

" _Best… Breakfast… Ever." Destiny said as she patted her stomach._

" _Ditto…" Ruby said leaning back, "I don't think I'll be able to eat for the whole week now…"_

 _Ruby noticed Destiny getting up from her seat. "Hey, where are you going?"_

" _I'm just going to use the restroom real quick." Destiny said._

" _Oh, okay." Ruby said, "Don't fall in okay!"_

" _Oh ha, ha." Destiny said mockingly. With that she made her way to the bathroom. However the little girl failed to notice that her small pouch was open; a single picture fell out. Ruby took notice of the photograph._

 _She let out a sigh, "Not again."_

 _Ruby got up from her seat and went to pick up the picture. She expected to be the picture of her mother again, but the writing that was on the back of it told her otherwise. The writing on the back had said, "Me and my Daddy on Family Fun Day"._

 _Ruby practically jumped for joy, when she saw that writing. She was now holding a picture of her dad! The dad that Destiny talked about with every chance she got. Ruby walked back to her table with the picture still face down._

" _Maybe a peek couldn't hurt." Ruby said, about to take a peek; but she kept it face down, "No, no way! I can't invade her privacy, I just can't! Just remember what Pyrrha said, she needs to go at her own pace to tell us who her father is. But than again… This could be our chance to find out who is so that we have an idea of what the White Fang wants with him and her. Alright Ruby… It's now or never…"_

 _Ruby slowly flipped the picture right side up, but her eyes widened in shock when she saw who exactly who dad is who was holding Destiny in his strong arms._

" _No way…" She stuttered, "It's…_ _ **him**_ _? But that can't be right… Can it?"_

 _Just than she heard a familiar voice, clear her throat. She turned and saw that it was Destiny back from the bathroom; she had a sad look on her face, knowing very well what Ruby saw. "Destiny…" Ruby said before saying simultaneously, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to look at-!"_

 _Destiny shook her head in reply, "It's okay." She reassured her, "It's not your fault. You were just curious that's all."_

 _Ruby handed Destiny back the photograph, and she took her seat back across from her; the little one looked at the picture. "Now you know who he is." Destiny said, "My dad I mean…"_

" _Ye-yeah." Ruby said awkwardly, "Please don't be mad at me. I didn't mean to look!"_

" _It's alright." Destiny said not taking her eyes off the picture, "You know he always said everyone is curious. I don't blame you for wanting to know; it is kind of my fault for not telling you about him sooner."_

 _Destiny finally looked up at Ruby, still possessing that sad look on her face. "You're not mad are you?" Destiny asked, "About who my dad is? About me not saying anything?"_

 _Ruby simply gave her a reassuring smile and shook her head, "Of course not." Ruby said, "Don't get me wrong, I am pretty shocked, in fact I'm still trying to process this, but there's no way I'm mad at you."_

 _Destiny looked to her perplexed, "You're not mad? But my dad he's a-"_

" _I know. But you told me, told us, really amazing things about him, in fact he kind of sounds like my dad. You even said before that he's not rolling in money, and was good at only one thing, so I don't really blame him for well, he's wrong-doings. If I were in his shoes I'd probably do the same thing."_

" _You're taking this remarkably well."_

" _You expected me to have a different reaction about it? Destiny, I don't blame you for not saying a word. You were scared I get it, you didn't know how we were going to react. So I get why you didn't want to say anything."_

 _Destiny pretty much gulped at that, and she couldn't help but smile at Ruby, trying to prevent herself from crying. Her reaction soon faded however when she realized something._

 _She buried her hands in her hair, "Oh God… The others, what am I supposed to tell them?"_

 _Ruby gave her a comforting pat on her shoulder, "Hey, Destiny, don't panic." Ruby said, "We'll tell them together."_

" _Really?" Destiny asked with her expression brightened._

 _Ruby nodded her head, "But since we're already on the topic, would mind telling me just a bit more about him, you know, before Weiss get's here."_

 _Destiny nodded her head, "Of course."_

 _With that Destiny told more about her dad, before Weiss arrived to the ice cream parlor._

* * *

 _-_ _ **Present**_ _-_

" **YOU'LL NEVER BEAT ME OLD MAN!** "

" **HA! YOU'RE NOTHING BUT TALK KID!** "

" **COME ON, RUBY YOU GOT THIS!** "

" **YOU CAN DO IT RUBY!** "

After the matches were done for the day, Ruby, and Yang along with Destiny went to go and meet up with Qrow. Destiny and him were both introduced, and they actually got along pretty well. They actually went back to the dorms to have a little bonding moment with Qrow, since from what Destiny understands the sisters have a lot of catching up to do, since they haven't seen him in a long time.

Ruby was currently, playing a fighting game with Qrow, while Yang and Destiny were cheering her own.

" _ **Soaring Ninja Wins!**_ " The Game Announcer said, " _ **Total Annihilation!**_ "

Ruby slumped over seeing as how she lost a match with her Uncle.

"Aw man, I really thought you had him!" Destiny said.

"Ooh, yikes." Yang said.

Qrow chuckled at his victory, "By the way, don't ever call me old."

" **MY TURN!** " Yang shouted before shoving her sister over, and taking the controller.

" _ **New challenger approaches**_." The Game Announcer said.

As the game started Qrow took a brief moment to think, "Alright, where was I?"

"You were talking about your last mission!" Destiny reminded.

"Ah, right." Qrow said before continuing with his story, "So I come across a small village in the swamps, West of Mistral. Right off the bat I knew something was wrong."

"What were you doing there?" Ruby asked amazed by his story.

"I needed information." Qrow continued, "Tired from battling Grimm along the way, I decided to begin my search at the town's inn. The inn was crawling with low-life and thugs, even a few Huntsmen whom I can only assume had been hired by less than reputable people for less than respectable jobs. And that's when it happened!"

"Huh? What?" Destiny asked.

"What happened?" Yang asked him.

Qrow continued onward, "I was defeated… by the mere sight… of the inn keepers skirt length!"

A pillow was suddenly thrown in his direction, courtesy of Yang; Qrow had caught the pillow and placed it to the side.

" _ **Soaring Ninja wins!**_ " The Game Announcer said, " _ **Total Annihilation!**_ "

"You're the worst!" Yang said to Qrow, a bit mad that he distracted her from the game. Destiny, Ruby, along with Qrow couldn't help but laugh.

"Best two out of three?" Qrow asked.

"You didn't in trouble with the headmaster because of your fight with Miss Winter?" Destiny asked out of curiosity.

Qrow replied to the child, "Nah, me and Oz go way back. We're cool."

"Cool for an old guy." Yang joked.

Qrow laughed sarcastically before saying, "Not funny."

"Hey so what are you doing here anyway?" Ruby asked her Uncle, "I thought dad said that you'd be away on a mission, like… Ever."

As the game started up again, Qrow had said, "Well, a professional Huntsman like myself, is expected to get results, as soon as possible."

"Yeah I get that." Ruby said with a confident smile, "We're pretty much pros too."

"Oh are you?"

"Yeah, didn't you hear the news Mr. Qrow?" Destiny asked, "They actually saved all of Vale!"

"That's funny." Qrow said, "From what I heard Vale suffered from a Grimm attack after you almost managed to stop a train."

Yang ended up losing again, and she couldn't help but pout; Qrow leaned over, "But they don't give out medals for almost."

"They do, and they're called silver!" Ruby said.

"We helped take down Roman Torchwick." Yang pointed out, "He's locked up in Ironwood's ship and crimes have been down ever since. That's basically a bounty mission!"

Qrow seemed to have taken notice when he saw Destiny had a certain look on her face at the mentioning of the thief's name, but decided not to make a big deal out of it. He said to the two teens, "Sure, you may be acting like huntresses, but you're not thinking like one. You really think four girls and their friends could end all crime in a Kingdom?"

Ruby twiddled her thumbs at this, "I mean, I did until you said that."

"Violence hasn't dropped since Roman got snatched." Qrow said, "It stopped. _**Completely**_. No White Fang activity all around the city. You cut off the head of a King Taijitu, but now the second head is calling the shots. That's what Ironwood can't get through that thick metal head of his."

The three of them seemed to be confused by this.

"Wait…" Yang said, "You know the general?"

"Hey, I know everyone to some extent." Qrow replied, "Don't forget that you're talking to a member of the coolest team ever to graduate Beacon."

Qrow took out a photograph out of his pocket. It was of four people, himself, a young man with blonde hair and blue eyes. There was two women their as well; one of them looked like Ruby while the other, looked like Yang but with black hair and red eyes.

Destiny saw Yang eyeing the woman with black hair; she appeared to be hypnotized by it. The child had a pretty good idea why she was like.

Qrow let out a nostalgic sigh, as his thumb covered the black haired woman's face, "Team STRQ (Stark). That's where I met your parents. We were pretty well known back in the day."

"Well known for a crummy fashion sense." Ruby said, not noticing Yang was in a hypnotized state.

"Hey, we looked good." Qrow said, "And I have a number of inappropriate stories that'll back that up."

Qrow noticed that Yang's expression changed; he placed the picture back in his pocket and Yang snapped out of it. "But I'll save that for when you're older."

"Eww, gross." Ruby said.

Qrow stood up from the floor. "Anyway, I'm too old to be hanging out with a bunch of kids. You're cramping my style."

Qrow turned to them, "Look. Just remember that you've got a long way to go. And don't think that graduating means you're done. Every single day out there is worth a week in this place. You two, you're gonna go far. But only if you keep learning. _**If you never stop moving forward***_."

(* _ **Well said Rooster Teeth; You'll always be remembered Monty Oum**_ )

Qrow then turned to Destiny, "Oh and by the way. You don't have to be so formal with me. Next time we see each other, Qrow is just fine."

Destiny nodded in understanding, and with that, Qrow took his leave.

* * *

- _ **Two Weeks Earlier; Later that Day (Evening)**_ -

 _Team RWBY and JNPR were all sitting in the library. Ruby had said to both of the teams that Destiny had something to tell them, but they were all unsure of what it could be. Destiny sat there nervously, twiddling her thumbs trying to think of what to say exactly._

" _Alright what's this all about?" Yang asked Destiny._

" _Yeah what did you wanna tell us?" Jaune asked curiously._

 _Destiny heaved out a sigh and looked over at Ruby. She gave her a reassuring smile and nodded her head._

 _She sighed again and said, "I know… I haven't been completely honest with all of you. I kept things from you all because I was scared of how you all would react to who my father is. I know you all want to know who he is, and how the White Fang knows him exactly but I need you to promise me something first."_

" _What is it?" Blake asked._

" _Promise me that you won't hate me for keeping his identity a secret from you, and that you won't hold anything against him for what he's been doing." Destiny said._

 _Both teams looked confused at it, but complied. "We promise Destiny." Pyrrha reassured her, "Now tell us… Who is your father?"_

 _Destiny didn't say anything; instead she removed a single picture out of her bag; it was the same photograph that Ruby had stumbled upon earlier that day. She gulped and turned the picture over so that everyone could see._

 _Like Ruby everyone had a shocked look on their faces when they saw who the person was exactly._

 _Blake was the first to speak up._

" _You're father… Is Roman Torchwick?"_

( _ **Ending Theme: Naruto Shippuden Ending 2**_ )


	6. Chapter 6: Strings of Fate

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **Two Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _None of team JNPR and the rest of team RWBY couldn't believe the photograph that they had seen before them. Roman Torchwick was actually Destiny's father! It was just unbelieveable! They both looked nothing alike, except for the green eye she had. They couldn't tell, honestly they couldn't! They continued to look at the photograph dumbstruck, while Destiny sat there awkwardly twiddling her thumbs as was Ruby. Yang was the first to say something._

" _This… Whole time, your dad is… Roman Torchwick?" Yang asked her, "One of the most wanted criminals in Vale?"_

 _Destiny nodded her head nervously, "I'm sorry… I didn't want to say anything about him because I was afraid. I didn't want you guys to hate me."_

 _Weiss looked at Ruby who was not surprised, "Did you know about this?"_

" _I only found out about this when we were in that ice cream parlor." Ruby quickly replied_

 _Blake had pointed out, "But… How can that be? He never said anything about having a child to the local police according to the news."_

" _That's because he kept me hidden." Destiny replied, "He said I was his secret, and made sure that no one knew about me. At least that's what he thought until that lady found out about me."_

 _This left the two teams perplexed at this. "Lady?" Jaune asked her, "I thought it was the White Fang that kidnapped you?"_

" _Yes, but they only did it because that lady made them do it." Destiny replied._

 _Ren asked her, "How do you know that?"_

 _Destiny replied with a gulp, "Because… Because my dad talked to her, before I was taken from him."_

" _Ooo, the plot thickens!" Nora exclaimed._

 _Pyrrha asked her, "Do you mind telling us about that lady?"_

" _I… Can't really say much about her." The child replied, "I've, never seen her face, and never heard her name. The only thing I've ever heard was her voice."_

" _Her voice?" Ren said._

 _Destiny nodded and began to explain._

" _The first time that, I've heard her was a month before I was kidnapped I think. He seemed to have known her, but I didn't see her, because my dad carried me into my room and told me to stay there. I did what I was told, but I listened to their conversation. He doesn't know it, but I listened."_

" _What did they talk about?" Blake asked._

" _I… I couldn't hear it clearly." The child said, "But I do know this… She talked about doing something terrible, with the Dust, the White Fang and Vale. I… I don't remember what happened but when my dad refused at first, I felt something burning. That's when I realized that it was fire. But I knew that couldn't be possible… There was only one person that I know that can even posses the power of fire without Dust and that was Miss Amber."_

" _Amber?" Ruby asked, "Who's Amber?"_

 _She replied, "Miss Amber helped me when I had gotten separated from dad in an awful storm. Anyway… I heard him stand his ground, he still refused her, and she wasn't happy. Although she still sounded calm about it. Than a week after they talked to each other, that's when the White Fang took me away. They used me, threatened to kill me if he didn't do what the lady asked. He had no choice but to do it. He had no choice but steal the dust and go forward with whatever she has planned for the kingdom."_

 _The Teams were at a loss. Someone is planning on to taking down the kingdom; could it have something to do with the Grimm invasion that happened a month ago? Or the woman that broke into the CCT building during the dance? They wondered if it could be connected._

 _Weiss asked the child, "Do you at least have an idea of what, well that lady plans on doing?"_

 _Destiny shook her head but then replied, "There is one thing I do know. That lady already put her plans in motion, and she's already infiltrated the school along with her companions, and are posing as students."_

 _Both teams couldn't help but gasp at this. "So…" Blake said before asking, "So you're saying that, whoever is in control of the White Fang could be any one of us?"_

 _Destiny nodded her head, "I'm sorry I wish I could help you to find her but like I said, I've never seen her face nor have I heard her name."_

 _Pyrrha reassured her, "It's alright. Thank you for telling us."_

 _Destiny looked at them curiously, "You guys aren't mad at me, are you?"_

" _Of course we're not." Weiss reassured her._

 _The little one looked at them a bit dumbfounded at this, "You're not?"_

 _Ren had replied, "We're shocked, but we're not mad about this."_

 _Destiny looked over at Ruby and she smiled, "See? I told you they wouldn't be mad."_

 _Both of the teams had decided to call it a day and they headed back to the dorms. Ruby noticed that Destiny was slagging behind them. "Hey Dessie?" Ruby said calling her by her nickname, "What is it?" This time Destiny stopped in her tracks; she rubbed her elbow a bit nervously and bit her lip nervously, her hand had covered her eyepatch. "What's wrong?" Ruby looked at her curiously._

" _Ruby…" Destiny said, "There's… There's something else I…"_

 _She was stopped in mid-sentence when she heard someone call out from a distance, "Ruby?"_

 _Destiny had gotten startled as did Ruby; luckily she placed the hood over her head before the person approached, but she quickly hid behind Ruby. It turned out it was Emerald._

" _Oh hey there Emerald!" Ruby said acting casual, "Nice to see you, what are you doing here?"_

" _I just forgot something in the library." Emerald said, before taking notice of Destiny hiding behind her, "Who's that?"_

 _Ruby who was about to introduce her, so Destiny looking a bit fearful for some reason. That's when Ruby remembered what she said before; that anyone could be working for the lady in control of the White Fang, so of course. Ruby had replied, "This is… Blake's cousin. She's here for the Vytal Festival."_

" _Oh really?" Emerald said, before kneeling down to her level, "It's nice to meet you, my name's Emerald."_

 _Destiny didn't say anything to her, she just buried her face in Ruby's back. "She's just shy." Ruby said to Emerald, "Anyway, we should really get going! I bet she's feeling really tired after today."_

" _Okay then." Emerald said with a friendly smile, "I'll talk to you later, see you." Ruby smiled and waved Emerald goodbye, while Ruby walked with Destiny down the hall straight back to the dorms, and Emerald had walked away having some suspicions about the little girl she just met._

* * *

- _ **Present**_ -

It was now the middle of the doubles rounds and the last of the contestants were going up against one another. The fight between Atlas and Beacon had just come to an end. Coincidentally the one fighting for Atlas's side was a friend of Ruby's; A young girl named Penny Polendina. She had just won the fight of the two member of team CRDL. Ruby had told Destiny a lot about Penny about how they met and how she was how she would say combat ready for when the Vytal arrived; and boy she wasn't kidding when she was combat ready. The way she controls her swords and the way she moves Destiny was honestly left speechless.

She almost could almost swear that Penny was dancing, like it was a ballet. As she watched them leave the stadium, Ruby got up from her seat and went to talk to Penny, and Destiny followed since she had wanted to meet her. Ruby turned the corner and found Penny with her teammate just about to exit with Destiny not too far behind.

" **PENNY!** " Ruby shouted getting her attention.

Penny turned around, " **RUBY!** "

With a leap she hugged Ruby, but she fell over right onto her back. "Wwwhhhyyy…?" Ruby couldn't help but groan she she hugged her back with a bit of pain. Soon enough, Penny took notice of Destiny standing right before them.

"Salutations little one!" Penny said with a smile.

"Hello." Destiny said with a friendly smile.

Penny and Ruby got off the floor and Ruby introduced Destiny to her, "Penny this is Blake's cousin Destiny! She's here visiting from Vacuole till the Vytal Festival is over."

"That's wonderful!" Penny said before saying to Destiny, "I hope you're enjoying your time here."

"I am, it's everything I could've imagined." Destiny said, "I'm glad to have met you Penny. Congratulations on winning the fight."

"Thank you!" Penny said.

Penny then turned to her other teammate who was patiently waiting for Penny to finish her conversation. "Ruby, Destiny." Penny said, "This is my teammate!"

"Ciel Soleil." The girl introduced as she bowed in greeting.

"Hi, nice to meet you." Destiny said holding her hand to her. Ciel simply nodded shook her hand, "Yes hello, nice to meet you to." Ciel said.

Ruby waved to her, "Hi, my name is-"

"Ruby Rose." Ciel said before Ruby could finish, "15 years of age, hails from Patch, leader of team RWBY, status… _**Questionable**_."

This left Destiny and Ruby a bit perplexed at this; though Penny was unphased by this. To delude from the awkwardness Ruby had said, "Penny, you were incredible out there! How do you keep control of all those swords?! It's so cool and-"

Ciel once again interrupted her when she talked to Penny all while she pointed to her watch, "Penny. I believe it is best if we move on to our next location."

"Could we have just a minute to talk?" Penny asked

Ciel looked at her watch and backed up to give them some space. She gave a nod of approval. They turned their back to her. "So… Is she a friend of yours?" Destiny asked curiously.

Penny replied, "Well, in a way. She's like your cousin Blake, only if she was ordered to spend time with you."

"Than Weiss?" Ruby and Destiny said at the same time.

"Exactly." Penny replied.

"Does she know about the…" Ruby said before placing her hands over Destiny's ears, leaving the little one confused and whispering, "You know the whole… Does not compute thing?"

"Oh no." Penny replied, "General Ironwood doesn't want anyone to know about that. There was an incident with a magnet, but I was able to play it off."

Ruby removed her hands from the little ones ears. "Aw, what were you talking just now?" Destiny said with a pout.

"Ruby? There's something I've been meaning to talk to you about." Penny said, making sure that Ciel didn't listen, "I want to stay here in Beacon."

"Huh? Stay here?" Destiny said with confusion. She noticed that Ruby had a worried look, "Penny they'll never let you do that." Ruby said.

"I know…" Penny said, "But I have a plan."

Ciel came forward, "It's been precisely one minute ma'am!"

"I'll talk to you more soon Ruby." Penny said, turning to Destiny, "And it was very nice meeting you, I hope you and I can talk again soon."

"Me too." Destiny said with a smile.

With that, Penny and Cecil took there leave. Destiny tilted her head and asked Ruby, "Who were you talking about when you said they?"

"Um… Well…" Ruby said nervously.

Just than they heard speaker go online, " _Our next match will begin in 15 minutes!_ "

Ruby and Destiny seemed to get excited about that, "Omigosh that's right, it's time for their match!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Quick! Let's head back to the seats!" Destiny exclaimed.

They quickly ran back to where they were sitting.

Yang and Weiss stood in the middle of the arena, waiting for their opponents. "Welp, now it's finally our turn." Yang said as she stretched.

"Just remember to keep proper form like I told you." Weiss said, as she stood perfectly straight.

Yang couldn't but sigh, "Alright. Weiss, you're from Atlas, anything what we can accept?"

Weiss replied, "Well, considering that their from a kingdom that's an academy and armed forces all in one. I think we can expect strict, militant fighters with advanced technology and carefully rehearsed strategies."

Suddenly they heard a whoosh sound go by them which had startled them both. It was revealed to be a girl with large twin tails and her bangs dyed with a shade of blue. She wore a blue tank top revealing her belly and revealed her dark purple bra, as well as purple shorts underneath her pink combat skirt and belt with a winking smiling face. On her tank top she had on two buttons one of them had a cat design and another had a green heart. Around her neck she had on a white collar choker and a pair of bracers on her shins and knees and on her arm she had a tattoo of what appeared to be a shooting star.

She also had a cat's tail and two bands around them.

A young dark-skinned man stood beside her. Upon his head he wore a fedora and black shades over his eyes and wore an earring on his right ear. He wore a dark vest with an unbuttoned and untucked white collared shirt. With it he had on a pair of dark pair of dress pants and shoes.

Both Weiss and Yang stood there a bit dumbfounded. "Or… Whatever it is they are." Weiss said.

The young dark-skinned man who was named Flynt Coal had said to Weiss, getting her attention, "Hey! You're Weiss Schnee right? The Heiress?"

"I am." Weiss said with a smile.

"I take it you're pretty good with Dust than?"

"I do my best."

"Yeah! My dad was good too! Owned a little Dust shop of his own… Til yo father's company ran him out of business."

Weiss appeared to have a saddened look on her face, "Oh… I'm sorry to hear that."

"Sure you aren't." Flynt said.

Yang glared at him, "Hey why don't you-!"

" _Hey, why don't you…_ " The girl named Neon mocked, "That's what you sound like!"

Yang was left perplexed at this. "Hey! Where did you get your hair extensions?" Neon asked.

"This is just my natural hair." Yang said.

"Oooh really?" She said with sarcasm.

"Yeah? Is that a proble-"

"You should try rollerblading sometime, it's super fun! It'll probably take you a while though since well you know… _**Top-heavy**_."

Yang's jaw dropped at this, " **EXCUSE ME!?** "

"Oh boy here we go." Ruby said seeing as how she hear that.

Destiny on the other hand, was confused by that saying, "What does she mean by top heavy?"

Blake simply replied, "Ask again when you're older."

The stage was now set. Their was a ruined city, a desert, a geyser field and what appeared to be a lava field.

Port began to countdown, " _Three… Two… One… Begin!_ "

The minute he finished counting down, Flynt played his horn and suddenly a huge gust of wind blew upon them pushing Weiss and Yang back. Weiss acted fast and quickly used her glyph to hold her ground, while Yang tried to push herself through. Neon rolled with turbulence and hit Yang head on pushing her back leaving only Weiss and Flynt standing their.

( _ **Song Starts: Neon Ft Casey Lee Williams**_ )

Flynt played his horn again and Weiss leaped forward, using her glyphs hold her ground. She even used her glyphs to walk forward. Just than Flynt had stopped playing causing Weiss to fall forward. He spun and kicked her causing her to fly to the lava geyser fields. Flynt chuckled and entered the area. Meanwhile, Neon moved quick on her feet all the while she was saying to herself "Never Miss A Beat." Yang fired shots as she chased after her and Neon taunted her when she kept missing.

 _ **We're all born with a dream**_

 _ **We wanna make come true**_

 _ **The best will climb to the top like me**_

 _ **The rest will end up like you**_

This pattern continued until Neon attacked Yang with her weapons which appeared to be nunchucks. She kept attacking on all sides leaving a trail of rainbows in her wake; Yang unfortunately couldn't keep up with her.

 _ **I bet it's hard to live with**_

 _ **Knowing that you'll never be this fine**_

 _ **Don't be distraught, don't be sad**_

 _ **You gave it your last try**_

Yang growled and reloaded her weapons, Neon prepared hers. With a click the weapons suddenly turned blue and once again she charged at her. This time when she hit her leg it suddenly turned to ice.

"Oh look! Now you're bottom heavy too!" Neon said while smacking her behind.

 _ **Listen girlfriend, can't you see?**_

 _ **I'm all the things that you'll never be**_

 _ **I'm cool like the rain and I'm hot like the sun**_

 _ **I'm a neon rainbow and you're no fun**_

Yang growled and slammed her foot on the ground and but soon found her arm frozen, before charging at her again, kicking her in the stomach. Yang impacted to a wall and ended up cracking on impact. Luckily Yang regained her footing.

"You should cool off!" Neon said laughing at her own joke, "Get it? Because your angry."

Yang growled and slammed her fist into the wall breaking the ice with a pissed off look on her face.

With Weiss against Flynt, she summoned her glyphs and with a couple of spins she sent ice shards flying in his direction. Though Flynt thought fast and used his horn use fire against her shards causing them to melt.

Flynt smirked at this, "Too bad all that money can't buy you skill."

Weiss seemed to get pissed at this, and the sword turned it dial which was white dust. As he played his horn Weiss used her wind attack against his attack. Using that as a distraction Weiss quickly formed glyphs around Flynt creating walls. With that she used her speed to attack on all sides catching him off guard.

Flynt finally had gotten fed up with it and got into a stance. That's when the crowd suddenly split into four of himself in four different colors blue, green, yellow and pink. Suddenly his attack from his weapon became stronger than before, causing Weiss to flying back losing her sword along with it.

" _What's this?_ " Port said.

Oobleck simply answered, " _It appears that Flynt just activated his semblance, and quite a remarkable one at that. Ladies and gentlemen, feast your eyes Flynt Coal's…_ _ **Killer Quartet!**_ "

With a flip of his hat, the Flynt's went back into one and walked over to Weiss. Neon headed back to the middle of the stadium where Yang had followed her; her eyes turned crimson red.

"Oooh! Flashy eyes!" Neon said, "You know, you're actually kind of pretty when you're angry."

"Shut up! Shut up! **SHUT UP!** " Yang shouted as she rocketed towards.

Weiss got up with a groan and reached for her weapon but was stopped when Flynt towered over her. Just as she was about to finish her aura level he heard Yang exclaim, " **GET BACK HERE!** "

He turned his attention over to her and saw Neon circling her while she taunted her.

"I wasn't saying you should go on a diet, I was saying you _**NEED**_ to go on a diet!" Neon said.

" **THAT IS IT!** " Yang shouted on her last nerve.

"You're fat." She said sticking out her tongue to her. Instead of Flynt taking out Weiss, he turned his attention towards Yang, activating his semblance again. Knowing what he was going to do, Weiss thought fast. She jumped and pushed Flynt into the geyser that was in front of them, and she fell in along with him. The geyser went off with them inside it.

"What?" Yang said with confusion.

" **WEISS!** " Ruby, Blake, and Destiny yelled.

" _It appears we have a double knockout folks_ _._ " Port said over the speakers.

" _In fact it looks as though Ms. Schnee's aura has been completely depleted!_ " Oobleck announced, " _She sacrificed herself for the sake of her teammate. Wait a minute! What's this!?_ "

The smoke cleared and everyone was surprised to see that Flynt still standing with not even a scratch.

" _Ladies and gentlemen! Flynt Coal remains standing!_ " Port said.

Flynt walked to the middle of the stadium where Neon was, to go up against Yang. "You did it Flynt!" Neon exclaimed, circling around him, "Don't worry about her, she's easy, but kind of annoying."

Yang felt all of her rage build up in her; in an instant her eyes went from purple to red.

" _Uh-oh, it looks Yang is angry._ " Port said, " _And you wouldn't like her when she's… Well upset_ _._ "

With a loud battle cry, the geysers behind her went off and the ground shook and quaked. She than started to fire upon them causing them both to scatter. " **YO NEON! GO!** " Flynt yelled to her. Neon went with a quick pace, and he played his horn again and Neon went with the current. Yang jumped into but flew back; that didn't last long when she rocketed through with the help of her shotgun gauntlets. She attacked Neon head on, throwing all kinds of punches at her which she had managed to dodge. Yang flew right in the air and fired around Neon until she finally fired near Flynt. He stumbled the current changed causing Neon to stumble and change the path. She ended up rolling into the geyser fields.

Yang landed on her feet and ran towards Flynt; she rocketed up in the air with the help of her gauntlets again. Flynt had activated his semblance and the Killer Quartet and went to attack Yang again. But that didn't stop Yang from hurdling towards him and covered up his horn. This had caused the weapon to backfire on Flynt and he flew back knocking him out.

" _Ouch! Sour note for Flynt!_ " Oobleck said. Once Yang was done with him she turned her attention to Neon.

"Never miss a beat, never miss a beat!" Neon said to herself trying to dodge the geysers, "Never miss a- _ **BEAT?**_ " Neon was caught off guard when she tripped over a loose rock; she tumbled and stumbled through the rocky plains and onto an active geyser causing her to fly upwards into the sky. Yang used that as an opportunity to fire over at Neon's position and it had managed to hit her and the buzzer had sounded off finishing up the match.

Yang caught her breath, exhausted from the battle, until…

" **WEISS!** " She exclaimed, her eyes changing back to purple.

Yang quickly ran towards Weiss; he body was covered in ash and was burnt all over. Yang helped her to sit up. "Weiss! Are you okay?! Say something!" Yang said with worry. Weiss opened her eyes and coughed a couple of times.

"I may not be singing for a while…" She said with a raspy voice.

Yang sighed with relief when she saw she was okay. "You know… I'm not sure that was proper form."

Weiss laughed with sarcasm before coughing again.

" **WHAT?!** " They heard Neon exclaimed, " **WE LOST!? WE LOST!? TEAM FNKI LOST!?** " All of Neon's color turned grey in a flash, she was suddenly her normal self when she suddenly exclaimed, " **THAT WAS AMAZING! OMIGOSH! YOU GUYS WERE SUPER CRAZY!** We should definitely hang out sometime! Right Flynt?"

Flynt got up and brushed himself off. "That was a gusty Schnee." Flynt said, "... I dig it." They smiled and their attention was soon drawn when they saw Ruby, Blake and Destiny run over to them. "Good job you two!" Blake said.

"Yeah! That was great!" Ruby said.

"I thought that was it for you guys." Destiny said, "Thank goodness you were able to pull through!"

Weiss looked to her wrist and saw that the bracelet she had on was covered in ash. "Your bracelet." She said still with a raspy voice, "It's covered in soot…"

Destiny reassured, "Don't worry about it, I'm just glad you're okay!" With that Destiny gave her a hug, and though there was a bit of pain, she hugged her back. Soon enough team RWBY joined in for the group hug.

* * *

- _ **Two Weeks Earlier**_ -

 _About a day had already passed since Team RWBY and JNPR had discovered the identity of Destiny's father. They still couldn't believe that someone like Roman Torchwick could be a father of one of the most sweet little girl in the World of Remnant. That someone as kind as her could even exist in world that was mostly populated with nothing but Grimm. Though then again as the old saying goes, never judge a book by it's cover. Maybe the great thief though a gentlemen can be a ruthless as the common criminal could be capable of being a father._

 _Today, it was just Pyrrha and Destiny since the rest of Team RWBY and JNPR needed to help out in setting up the fairgrounds to the Vytal Festival which was on campus, and Pyrrha had decided to watch Destiny as they did just that. Both of them were currently checking out what was going and what they were setting up for what they had prepared. Currently they were taking a break from all of that and watching the clouds go by and naming the shapes of what passed by in the skies._

" _That one looks like a sheep!" Destiny said, "And right next to it is a little bunny."_

" _Hmmm… I see a huntsman tap dancing all through a meadow." Pyrrha said._

" _What? No way! Where do you see that Pyra?" Destiny asked calling Pyrrha by her nickname._

 _Pyrrha pointed to where she was looking, "Right there you see?"_

 _Destiny squinted to see better; she giggled when she saw it, "Oh I see it now!"_

 _Pyrrha smiled and laughed along with her. They continued to stare at the sky for a little bit until Destiny said, "Hey Pyra?"_

" _Hm?"_

" _Do you believe in things like destiny? I'm not talking about myself, I'm talking about well… In general?"_

" _What do you mean?"_

 _Destiny let out a sigh as she sat up, "It's just… Well… How do I put this?" She put a hand over her eye patch, "I have… A little secret that a lot of people may not find well accepting. I've always had it ever since I was a baby and it's another reason why dad kept me hidden from others. Sometimes I wonder… If something different were to happen. Like what would happen if I was given a choice? If I could change it for the better for dad and everyone else…"_

 _Pyrrha sat up, "Destiny? Where is this coming from?"_

 _Destiny turned to Pyrrha and replied simply, "What if I said, I was taken from my father, other me being a hostage? And what if I said it had something to do with my secret? Like what I have is capable of hurting people?"_

 _Pyrrha looked at her with a bit of concern, but listened to what she had to say._

 _The child had continued, "That lady, the one I mentioned before, she would sometimes visit me, and one day… she told me, she found out about my secret, and said because of it, I was… I destined to help her with her plan. And whenever I think about it, I just… I just see the victims. The fear in everyone's eyes, and the lives that'll be put in danger. Because of that sometimes I wish I could just change it, so that I would never had this awful secret to begin with."_

 _Pyrrha pulled Destiny into a comforting hug which took the child by surprise. "Don't take what the lady said to you to heart." Pyrrha reassured her, "Whatever your secret is, I know, and I'm sure everyone else knows this too, that you would never hurt anyone. You're one of the most sweetest, kindest girl that we've all come to know. Don't let others tell you otherwise."_

 _Destiny smiled and leaned into the hug, feeling much more calmer about Pyrrha's words._

* * *

- _ **Present; Dormitories**_ -

Cinder, Emerald and Mercury were sitting in there room of the dorms. Emerald was looking through the internet while Mercury was doing push-ups, while Cinder was going through the Atlas database on her scroll. One information in particular caught her interest; Emerald, and Mercury took notice of this.

"What is it?" Emerald asked her.

What she was looking through was schematics to a synthetic being one by the name of Penny. She skimmed through the information. "Oh nothing." Cinder eventually replied, "We're just going to make a… slight _**alteration**_ to the plan."

Emerald and Mercury looked to one another perplexed.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Mercury asked.

Cinder simply replied, "It means, this will be much easier than we previously thought."

* * *

- _ **Headmaster's Office**_ -

Ozpin sat at his desk looking out his window looking at the view which was provided. It wasn't long till he heard someone enter the room; Turned out it was Qrow who stepped in the office. "You know…" Qrow said, "Ironwood is just making a fool out of you."

"He's heart is in the right place." Ozpin replied, "He's just… Misguided."

"Sometimes I'm not even sure if he has a heart."

Qrow took a sip from his mug, most likely filled with an alcoholic beverage. "So… Have you chosen your _**guardian**_?" Qrow asked him.

Ozpin turned in his seat to look at him, " _ **Maidens choose themselves**_. I believe that I may have found the right _**candidate**_. Ever since the day I met her I had a feeling she would be the one. She's strong, intelligent, and more importantly… She's ready."

From the lower levels Pyrrha entered and went to one of the elevators to head up since she was called in to see the headmaster. The elevator doors opened and before she had entered, when she suddenly felt someone touch her arm. She looked behind her and so that there was no one there which left her a bit confused. Shaking it off she entered the elevator, unaware that a young teenage girl with short black hair was leaning just against the wall of the elevator behind her.

The doors closed and the elevator took them up.

( _ **Ending Theme: Naruto Shippuden Ending 2**_ )


	7. Chapter 7: A Story Through Ages

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **A Few Days Earlier**_ -

" _ **UNCLE QROW!**_ " _Ruby shouted, hugging his arm as if she were a monkey, "Hi there!"_

 _Qrow lifted his arm along with Ruby; Ruby couldn't help but kick her legs up with excitement._

" _It is so good to see you!" Ruby said, "Hey didja ya miss me!? Didja miss me!?"_

" _Nope." Qrow said with a smirk._

 _He went ahead to pat Ruby on the head before he heard his name called by Ozpin._

" _Qrow!" Ozpin said, "A word please."_

 _Ruby slipped from Qrow's arm and fell to the floor. After a few seconds she recovered and stood up. Qrow leaned over, "I think I'm in trouble."_

" _You did kind of tear up the courtyard." Ruby said with a smile._

 _Qrow smirked as well, "Yeah I did." Both him and Ruby brofisted each other, "Catch you later kiddo."_

 _Thus Qrow went to join up with Ozpin and Glynda who had just finished fixing up the courtyard._

 _Up in the headmaster's office, Winter had paced around angrily while Ironwood waited for Ozpin, and Glynda to return with Qrow, who had just arrived earlier that day. As luck would have it they had just arrived via elevator, with Qrow giving a simple in greeting._

" _ **WHAT WERE YOU THINKING!?**_ " _Winter exclaimed._

" _If you were one of my men I'd have you shot!" Ironwood said._

" _If I was one of your men I'd shot myself." Qrow simply said before getting out his flask._

" _Well I wouldn't condone for his behavior." Glynda said to Winter, "Retaliating like you did, certainly didn't help at all with the situation."_

" _He was drunk!"_

" _He's always drunk!"_

 _They looked to Qrow who was now drinking from his flask, but stopped when they all looked at him. But all he did was shrug._

 _Ozpin sighed, "Qrow, why are you here?"_

" _You've been out of contacts for weeks!" Ironwood said angrily, "You can't just go dark like that!"_

" _I'm not one your special operatives Jimmy." Qrow said._

 _Winter corrected for him with a bit of anger tone in her voice, "General."_

" _Whatever." He said, "You sent me to get intel on our enemy and I'm telling you. Our enemy is here."_

" _We know." Ironwood said folding his arm._

" _Oh, you know?" Qrow said, "Well thank goodness I'm risking my neck out there keeping you all informed!"_

" _Qrow!" Ironwood said before getting cut off by him._

" _Communications a two way street pal!" Qrow said before pulling out his scroll, pointing to a button, "You see this? That's the_ _ **send**_ _button!"_

" _They had reason to believe you'd been compromised." Winter said. Qrow glared over in her direction. "And I have reason to believe that you don't need to be here!" Qrow said, "Seriously, who invited her?"_

 _Ironwood turned to Winter, "Schnee, we'll discuss this incident back on my warship."_

 _Winter was left stunned at this, "But sir-!" She tried to persuade before getting cut off._

" _Winter. Leave." Ironwood said, more sternly. Winter was a bit hesitant but complied with the order. She stood straight and saluted, "Yes sir." With that Winter took her leave. She left without saying a word and the elevator descended._

" _Go on." Ironwood said._

 _Qrow continued on with his report, "Your little infiltrator isn't another one of your special ops. They're the ones responsible for_ _ **Autumn's**_ _condition."_

" _What?!" Glynda exclaimed with disbelief._

 _Qrow turned to them after taking a sip from his flask, "Despite what the world thinks, we're not just some teachers, or headmasters or generals. The people here standing in this room, and the other leaders at the other academies,_ _ **we're**_ _the ones keeping the world safe from the_ _ **evils no one even know about**_ _. It's why we meet behind closed doors, why we work in the shadows. So you tell me something James, when you bought your army here to Vale, did you think you were being discreet, or did you just not give a damn!?"_

 _Qrow had glared at Ironwood when he said that, but Ironwood just stood their calmly. He simply replied, "Discreet wasn't working." He placed his scroll on the table and it had projected a hologram to the coliseum, and his army circling around it as well the city and school. "I'm here because this is what was necessary."_

" _No, you're here because Ozpin wanted you here!" Qrow corrected, "He made you a part of this little group and opened your eyes to the real world!"_

" _And I'm grateful to that."_

" _Oh really? You have a funny way of showing it."_

" _The citizens of Vale needed someone to protect them, someone who would act. When they looked to the skies and see my fleet, they will feel safe and our enemies will feel our strength."_

 _Qrow started to laugh at that, "You think they're scared of your little ships? I've been out there and I've seen the things_ _ **she's**_ _made and let me tell you…_ _ **They are fear**_ _."_

" _And fear will bring the Grimm." Ozpin said, "A_ _ **guardian**_ _is a symbol a symbol of comfort. But an_ _ **army** is a symbol of conflict_ _. There's energy in the air now. A question lingers in the back of minds of everyone. If this is the size of our defenses, what is it we're expecting to fight?"_

 _Ironwood had sighed in defeat, and went to pick up his scroll from the table. Though he failed to notice that a pawn icon appeared in the middle of his screen. He placed the scroll back in his pocket._

" _What do you suggest we do than?" Ironwood asked the headmaster._

 _Ozpin had simply replied, "I suggest we find our guardian."_

* * *

- _ **Present**_ -

Pyrrha had arrived to the headmaster's office right on schedule. She was sitting in one of the spare chairs provided in the office, just across of the headmaster of Beacon, Ozpin.

"Well it comes as no surprise that that they've chosen you to move onto the singles round in the tournament." Ozpin said to the young teen, "Your performance is exemplary."

"Thank you Ozpin." Pyrrha said with a friendly smile, "I wouldn't have made it this far without my teammates." She took a moment to look at a bracelet around her wrist, one that was made by Destiny herself. Though she was bought out of thought when she heard someone say, "Personally I think it's the other way around."

Pyrrha and turned to the man which was Qrow. Pyrrha stood up from her seat, "I'm sorry, I don't believe we've been properly introduced."

"Names Qrow." He said to Pyrrha.

"Qrow is a trusted colleague of mine." Ozpin explained to her.

Pyrrha turned back to the headmaster, with slight confusion, "Professor Ozpin? If you don't mind me asking… Why did you call me here?"

"Please, take a seat." Ozpin said. Pyrrha sat back down, with slight hesitation.

He than asked, "What is your favorite fairytale?"

Pyrrha was a bit confused by his question. "I'm sorry?" She asked, with a bit of confusion.

"Fairy tales." Ozpin said, "Stories from your childhood. Surely you must remember some?"

Pyrrha still a bit confused by the question, she had answered, "Well… There's the tale of the two brothers, the Shallow Sea, the girl in the tower-"

"What about… _**The Story of the Seasons**_?" Ozpin asked.

Pyrrha's expression brightened at that, "Oh of course!"

She told the story, " _A callous old man who refuses to leave his home is one day visited by four traveling sisters. The first of the sisters understands his reclusive nature and urges him to use his time in solitude to reflect and meditate. The second brings him fruits and flowers and tends to his crops in his garden. The third warms his heart and convinces him to step outside to embrace the world around him. And the fourth and final sister begs him to look at all that he has and be thankful. In return for their kindness, than man grants the maidens incredible powers so that they may continue to help others all over the world. They graciously accepted their gifts, and promised to share their gifts with the World of Remnant until the end of days. The four maidens…_ _ **Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall.**_ "

Pyrrha smiled at when she finished that story, "My mother also loves that story."

"Would you believe me if I told you that one's been around since I was a boy?" Ozpin asked her.

"You're not that old professor." Pyrrha said with a smile.

"Well… Would you believe me if I told you it was _**true**_?" He asked.

This time Pyrrha had a stunned expression on her face, a look of disbelief.

"I… I beg your pardon?" Pyrrha said, not really sure if she heard him right.

Ozpin asked, "What if I were to tell you, that they're four maidens existing in this world, that could wield a tremendous power, without the use of Dust."

"You...Do you mean like a semblance?"

"Like _**magic**_."

Despite Pyrrha having her back to Qrow, he could tell what her reaction was to that. "Yeah, it's pretty crazy to hear at first."

Pyrrha said while stammering turning her attention back to Ozpin, "Are… Are you serious?"

"... Do I look like I'm joking?" Ozpin asked her.

Pyrrha saw the look in his eyes; she could tell that he wasn't lying. "No sir." She replied before asking, "But… Why are you telling me this?"

There was silence in the room for a moment; all that was heard was the sound of the gears turning. Finally Ozpin spoke, "The reason why _**we're**_ telling this Pyrrha Nikos, is because we have reason to believe that you are next in line to _**receive the Fall Maidens powers.**_ "

Pyrrha gave a quizzical look, "We?"

At that very moment, the elevator doors opened, revealing familiar faces; Glynda Goodwitch and Ironwood. "Sorry we're late." Ironwood said, while fixing his tie, "Had to look into something."

At this point, Pyrrha started to feel afraid. "Wa-wait!" Pyrrha stammered, "What is this?! Who are you!?"

"You already know who we are." Glynda said, "We're still the headmasters and teachers you met when you first arrived here at Beacon."

"Except we got a little _**part time job**_." Qrow added.

Ironwood had said, "We are the protectors of this world."

"And we need _**your**_ help." Ozpin finished.

In the next moment, Pyrrha found herself in the elevator, with Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow and Ironwood, descending down to the lower levels of the very building they were in; lower levels that Pyrrha didn't even know had existed.

Pyrrha stood there nervously, rubbing her elbow, "Um… Where are we going?" She finally asked.

"To the vault under the school." Ozpin replied.

"...A vault?" Pyrrha said questioningly.

Finally they had reached the floor, and Ozpin, Glynda, Qrow and Ozpin entered the room. Pyrrha stood there in the elevator but entered with hesitation but soon stopped in her tracks when felt that familiar feeling of someone behind, but this time she felt something touch her shoulder. She turned to find that there was no one behind her which she found strange, since they were the only ones in the elevator. She shook it off and went catch up with Glynda and the others. Though someone had actually stepped out of the elevator before it closed shut and had followed behind the group but kept her distance.

They walked down the halls of a large hallway, most of the room was covered with shadows and lit with many candles. Pyrrha walked slowly as she looked around, still not even believe what was happening exactly.

"I'm sure you have a lot of questions." Glynda said.

"Maybe one or two." Pyrrha replied as she walked with Glynda, "I'm afraid I still don't understand. You said I was next in line to receive the maiden's powers. What did you mean by that exactly?"

Glynda had replied, "The maidens have existed for thousands of years, but very much like nature, the seasons change. They're no two summers and springs alike. When a maiden dies, her power leaves her body and seeks out a new host, ensuring that the seasons are never lost and that no individual can hold onto the power forever."

"If a person can't hold onto it forever, than how does the power itself choose?" The young teen asked.

Qrow replied, "It chooses through a series of stupid and convoluted rules."

"Qrow!" Glynda said angrily.

Qrow said to her as he slouched, "Don't get mad at me because I'm right."

Glynda continued explaining to Pyrrha, "At first the only thing that was certain was that the powers were specifically passed on to young women. But as time went on, the selection became much more, _**intimate**_."

"Intimate?" Pyrrha asked, "What do you mean?"

"From what we understand now, when a maiden dies, the one who is in her final thoughts is the first candidate to inherit her powers." Glynda replied.

Qrow had added, "Unless it's a dude or some old hag. Then the powers go to someone random, and it makes our jobs a lot harder."

"Why tell me all of this now?" Pyrrha asked curiously, "Why not wait until I've graduated?"

Qrow had replied, "Honestly, we've run out of time. I don't know if you've noticed but things are getting a lot scarier out in the world. The tensions are. Grimm are growing more stronger and powerful, and not to mention prevalent. It's not gonna be much longer before this peace we've all been enjoying so much goes right out the window."

"You're… You're not talking about war, are you?" Pyrrha asked them.

"Not a war between nations." Ironwood replied.

"We can tell you about the details later once we know you're with us." Qrow said, "The only thing you need to know right now is that one of the maidens was attacked. And for the first time in history, _**part of her powers was stolen**_."

Finally they approached what appeared to be some kind of a machine possessing two capsules. One was off but the other possessed a person; a young woman to be exact. She possessed a light brown complexion and had short straight brown hair. Under her eye she had a beauty mark, but all across her face she had some kind of scar. She wore a white tube top with a skirt to go with it. In the capsule she was in a comatose state.

"Is… Is that?" Pyrrha asked stammering a bit.

Ozpin let out a sigh, "That's the current Fall maiden… _**Amber**_."

Pyrrha lightly gasped at this, remembering where she heard that name before.

" _She talked about doing something terrible, with the Dust, the White Fang and Vale. I… I don't remember what happened but when my dad refused at first, I felt something burning. That's when I realized that it was fire. But I knew that couldn't be possible… There was only one person that I know that can even posses the power of fire without the use of Dust and that was_ _ **Miss Amber**_ _."_

" _Could it be?_ " Pyrrha thought in her head, " _The lady in control of the White Fang that Destiny talked about? Was the same one that did this…?_ "

Pyrrha spoke aloud, "She's… She's still alive, isn't she?"

"For now." Ironwood replied, "We're using state of the art Atlas technology to keep her stable. However there is a lot to this situation which is unprecedented."

"What do you mean by that?" She asked.

The general replied, "Well, we don't know what will happen if or when she passes."

"Won't her powers just transfer to the next host?" The young teen asked.

"Oh, well look who's been listening!" Qrow said with a bit of sarcasm whispering over to Ozpin, "She _**is**_ smart."

The general replied, "Under normal circumstances, yes. Though with all things considered, this is a delicate situation. It's not uncommon for the last thoughts of the slain to be that of their attacker. To make matters worse, no one's ever seen the power split like this before. For all we know, it will seek out it's other half."

Pyrrha had put two and two together at that point, " _ **Her**_ _**assailant.**_ "

"And that would not bode well for any of us." Ozpin added.

Pyrrha sighed and looked down at her feet. She walked towards the capsule that Amber was in, and placed her hand on the glass. " _Destiny, actually met one of the maidens from the story…_ " Pyrrha thought in her head, " _And she doesn't even know it…_ "

That was when a certain thought came to her head. She turned back to them, "If this is all true, why keep it all a secret? If this girl is so important… If we're truly on the brink of war, why not tell anyone!?"

Glynda replied, "From what we understand it used to be common knowledge."

Pyrrha didn't quite understand that, "Excuse me?"

"How do you think the legends and fairytales got started in the first place?" Qrow asked her, "Even the craziest ones have to come from somewhere."

Glynda said, "Our group was founded to protect mankind and the maidens. Those that were hungry for power hunted them with the hope of inheriting their strength."

Qrow added, "And as you can imagine, the ones that succeeded weren't exactly the kind of people you'd want to have unimaginable power."

Ironwood continued, "And so _**the brotherhood**_ decided to remove the maidens from the public eye. Allowing their existence to fade into legend."

"The things that we're telling you right now go against hundreds of years of human history, religion. If we ever told anyone else about this, no one would believe us." Glynda said.

"It would cause nothing but panic if anyone knew." Ozpin said, "And all that we know what would bring clawing our kingdom's walls. Which is why we would like to-"

"I'll do it." Pyrrha suddenly said cutting him off. The others were surprised to hear this as well.

"If you believe this will help humanity." Pyrrha said, "Then _**I**_ will become, your _**Fall maiden**_."

The four of them looked to each other, but then turned back to Pyrrha giving her a certain look which confused her. "That's… What you want, isn't it?" Pyrrha asked.

"It is." Ozpin replied, "But I'm afraid it's not that simple. Given Amber's condition, you won't be able to _**inherit her power naturally**_. However, general Ironwood, believes that he has a solution."

"Over the past few years, Atlas has been studying aura from a more scientific standpoint." Ironwood explained, "How it works; what it's made of; how it can be used. We've made significant strides and we believe we've found a way to capture it."

"Capture it, and cram it into something else." Qrow clarified, "Or… _**In your case**_ …"

Pyrrha didn't understand at first, but after only a moment, she realized what he was saying. She turned to Ironwood.

"That's-"

"Classified."

"Wrong!"

"The feeling is mutual." Glynda said, "However desperate times call for desperate measures."

Ironwood had added, "And these are indeed desperate times. We can't give you Amber's powers to you but we can give you what those powers are bound to."

"Her aura." Pyrrha said.

"Her life will become intertwined with yours." Ozpin said, "The question is…"

Qrow had finished, " _ **What's that gonna do to you**_?"

Pyrrha had a somewhat fearful expression on her face.

"You have an important decision to make Miss Nikos." Ozpin said, "There's _**no guarantee**_ that the transfer will work, and there's no telling if you will be the _**same person**_ if it does. I advise you to take time to think about this matter. But understand, before the Vytal Festival is over… We will need your answer."

Pyrrha turned back to look at Amber, once again placing her hand on the glass.

"The assailant that attacked the Fall maiden has made their first move." Ozpin said, "And there's no telling when their next move will be."

With that they took their leave to exit the vault. A person, the girl with short black hair had suddenly emerged from the shadows, just next to the machine. She looked to the girl named Amber, and leaned on the side.

"So… All this time _**you**_ were the Fall maiden." The girl said to Amber, "Funny… That woman in control of the White Fang, the one that attacked you… You know… She had no idea that the story of the seasons was real… Just believed it was some fairytale like everyone else. I wonder… If _**she**_ told her about you. I mean she is one of the only few people that knows about your existence."

She pushed herself off the machine, and turned to Amber, "Though aside from it… this a fine little predicament that they put that girl into."

She watched as they disappeared into the distance, with Pyrrha looking back every now and then.

"I wonder what you will choose… _**Pyra**_?"

( _ **Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4- I Will Performed By Sowelu**_ )


	8. Chapter 8: The Fall Begins

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

Today was the day of the final round in the Vytal Festival tournament, everyone was excited than ever before. Today the winner from one of the academies will walk away as the victor. Everyone was excited about it, students, teams, and many others alike. They all cheered and clapped for the contestants wishing them all the best of luck.

Professor Port said through the speakers, " _And now the moment you've all been waiting for! The one on one finals!_ "

A total of eight people stood in the middle of the arena. Five of them being, Yang, Sun, Penny, Mercury and Pyrrha.

" _Barty, why don't you explain the rules?_ " Professor Port asked his colleague.

Everyone heard Oobleck say, " _It's quite simple Peter, instead of a bracket system, each round of the finals will randomly be determined immediately before the match takes place!_ "

" _Much like a good hunt, there will be zero time to prepare!_ " Port had added.

" _Now let's see what the first match will be!_ "

Team RWBY members Ruby, Blake and Weiss were sitting in their usual sits, next to Team JNPR members, Jaune, Nora and Ren. There was one person missing however, and that was little Destiny.

"Hmm, I wonder where she could be?" Ruby said with a worried expression.

"She said she had to use the restroom." Weiss said, "I assume that the lines are pretty long."

"Still, she's taking a long time." Blake said, "I wonder what's keeping her?"

"She had better get here soon! They're about to announce the first matchup!" Nora said.

They spoke too soon when they saw that the randomization process had already begun. They watched up on the screen as it began to slow down. The first two people up was Mercury Black and their teammate Yang Xiao Long.

" _The first match of the day will be, Yang Xiao Long of Beacon, vs Mercury Black of Haven!_ " Port said, " _Would all other contestants please leave the stage._ "

The other contestants left the stage and Pyrrha went to go join the rest of her teammates. She noticed that a certain someone was missing, "Hey, where's Destiny?" She asked, "I thought that she would be here with you guys."

"She said that she had to go use the restroom, but she's not back yet." Ren said.

"She probably ate something that didn't agree with her." Jaune said.

Blake got up from her seat, "Maybe I should go get her."

Pyrrha than stopped her, "No, wait, I'll go get her. I think Yang would've wanted all of her teammates to see her fight. Don't worry, I'll be back." With that Pyrrha took her leave out of the stadium.

The middle of the stadium it began to set itself up for the fight between Yang and Mercury. Instead of the stage splitting into a geyser field or a ruined city and so forth, it had just lifted the two of them a few inches off of the ground.

Spotlights hovered above them and around the arena that Mercury and Yang were standing in. The spotlights lit up, so that it would be better for everyone to see the fight take place.

Yang smiled and said to Mercury, "You better not go easy on me."

Mercury chuckled, "You wish."

Both of them took their stance and approached to each other, slowly to the point where their hands almost touched each other.

Port began to countdown, " _Three… Two… One…_ _FIGHT!_ "

Thus the fight began between the two of them; Yang threw a punch while Mercury kicked, both of the shots echoed throughout the arena and Mercury flew back. Mercury charged and tried to kick her, but Yang flipped over him, and fired a shot from her shotgun gauntlets which Mercury dodged with ease.

Mercury started to throw punches at Yang while she blocked them. They both managed to hit each other which they both flew backwards but managed to regain their footing.

Yang started to fire shots again, but Mercury dodged every single one and landed a kick on her; luckily she blocked him though. She tried to hit him, but he flipped and because of it a shot had fired from his heel. Once Yang landed on her feet she charged and started to land punches on him; with each punch a bullet had fired from her gauntlet.

Mercury barely managed to block them, and kicked at the same time she did but had managed to trip her. He flipped and and was about to land a hit on her but she dodged at the last second.

He was about to hit her again, but Yang punched the ground so that he was somewhat hovering in the air. He kicked her again, but she blocked the attack again. He kicked her towards her head but she did a flip. His foot landed on the ground and floor smashed into a crater. Once again they sent each other kicks. They kept this up, until Yang had managed to trip him; he fell on his stomach. She started to fire at him again; Mercury performed flips but was pushed back by the shotgun blasts.

He tumbled off of the stage, but rocketed it back up, sticking the landing. He started to kick her. Of course she blocked them, finally after rolling over Yang's back he had managed to kick her, pushing her back. He sent out projectiles towards her and Yang was quick on her feet. He sent more projectiles through the air circling around the arena and sent them flying towards Yang.

Yang dodged the projectiles and charged at Mercury. She tried to throw punches at him, but was cut off guard when he kicked her into the air, and slammed her into the ground, breaking most of the tiles. All the projectiles that once circled around the arena, flew straight at Yang, hitting her all at once, creating a huge puff of smoke.

The crowd cheered, and Mercury stood up brushing off some dirt he had gotten on his jacket, and walked away thinking that it was over.

Until he heard an explosion just behind him which made him stop in his tracks. Yang stood up, her eyes had changed to crimson red, and her hair lit up like the sun.

She charged at Mercury and caught him off guard. He only barely blocked the punches that came along with the gunfire. He tried throwing kicks at her but that was his first mistake. Yang punched him across the face and chest and continued with this pattern until finally, she had punched him right in the stomach breaking his aura, and punched him in the face, causing him to land on his back.

The buzzer had sounded off.

" _What a way to kick off the finals!_ " Port said.

Yang caught her breath and her eyes changed back to purple. She smiled and raised her fist in the air and the crowd cheered loudly.

" _Ladies and Gentlemen! Yang Xiao Long wins the match!_ " Oobleck said over the speakers.

The staged lowered itself onto the rest of the arena.

" **YEAH! SIS YOU DID IT!** " Ruby cheered.

"Aw man, Dessie missed the whole fight!" Nora said.

Jaune looked to the exit, "I wonder they could be…"

Yang stretched and cracked her shoulder, "Better luck next time Merc." Yang said, turning to exit the arena. But than…

" _There's not going to be a next time blondie_ …"

Yang turned and saw that Mercury had gotten up from the floor, and went to attack her, and Yang did the only thing she could do.

* * *

- _ **Meanwhile**_ -

Pyrrha didn't know exactly how long she was looking for Destiny. She thought she would find her at the restrooms like the others said. However she was befuddled to find out that she wasn't there to begin with. She had begun to ask around and had found out she had gone towards to the systems computer, just located through a door where it had said employees only. She was curious to why she had decided to go in a place like that. As soon as she made sure no one saw her, she entered and came across a large hallway. Thankfully no one was inside.

"Destiny?" Pyrrha whispered, still not sure if it was really empty, "Destiny, where are you?"

There was no answer, and this had gotten Pyrrha a bit worried. "Destiny? Are you in here?" Pyrrha had whispered again.

Just as Pyrrha was startled by the sound of a gunshot, she soon heard someone scream, and the sound of something getting knocked down. She recognized the voice to be Destiny. Immediately Pyrrha ran to where she had heard the screams. She soon saw a door partly open, some spilled water. She ran and opened the door, and to her shock. She saw Destiny on the floor lying on her side in a fetal position, clutching her head and screaming bloody murder.

" **DESTINY!** " Pyrrha exclaimed running over to her. She took her in her arms, and Destiny still clutched her head while she had screamed, "Oh God, what happened?!"

"It hurts! It hurts so much!" Destiny exclaimed, "The voices! The ringing sound! Make it stop please!"

"Destiny, what are you talking about?" Pyrrha said with concern, "What voice? What ringing sound?"

"The computer-! The Pawn Symbol-! _**Emerald**_! They-They heard it- They're coming!"

"Destiny, you're not making sense! What are you trying to say?!"

Destiny didn't have time to answer as she had suddenly went limp. Her hand had fallen to the side, and Pyrrha started to panic. "Destiny!" Pyrrha exclaimed trying to shake her awake, "Oh God Destiny! Please wake up!"

Pyrrha tried to get her to wake up, but she had failed to notice that someone else had entered the room. A hand reached out and touched Pyrrha's shoulder. Pyrrha had turned around and startled what appeared to be a young teenage girl that looked about sixteen with short black hair; two parts of her bangs had been dyed grey. She was wearing a brown leather jacket that was open in the middle revealing her stomach that had some bandages above it, going up to her neck.

She wore dark brown pants with buckles on her knees and black boots with the same kind of buckles but it was brown. Her sleeve was short on the left but she wore a long sleeve black fingerless glove, and on her right she had a long sleeve which also had a glove attached to it; which was also fingerless.

Her eye was of red while the other appeared to have been blind, with an odd color of orange, and a scar just across that one blind eye.

Pyrrha was about to say something, but the girl immediately shushed her. That's when Pyrrha heard footsteps in echo in the hall. The girl whispered to Pyrrha, "If you don't want to get caught and or disqualified, then follow me."

Pyrrha nodded her head, and picked Destiny up off the floor. She than quickly and quietly followed the girl outside.

* * *

- _ **At That Moment**_ -

The whole crowd had fallen silent by what had happened; some people had booed at what had just happened. Mercury clutched his leg as he cried out in agony. " **AH, MY LEG!** " He exclaimed as the paramedics tried to calm him down, " **MY LEG!** "

Yang glared and said, "That's what you get you little-Huh?"

Suddenly Yang found herself surrounded by Atlas soldiers; guns were pointed directly at her armed and ready to fire.

"Yang Xiao Long stand down!" One of the Atlas soldiers said.

Yang had slowly put her arms down and disarmed her gauntlets, still unsure what was going exactly. "Why?" Yang stammered, "What's going on?"

" **MERCURY!** " Emerald exclaimed, running over to him.

" **SHE ATTACKED ME!** " Mercury shouted, " **WHY WOULD SHE ATTACK!?** "

Yang raised her eyebrow, but soon turned her attention to the screen, as to get an answer why everyone was looking so distraught, and why everyone booed at her specifically. That was when she saw it, and she was horrified to see it.

Instead of seeing Mercury attack her, she saw him defenseless, and a bullet go straight through his leg, from her own weapon.

* * *

- _ **One Week Earlier**_ -

 _Today team RWBY and JNPR, along with Destiny and Zwei had gone to the Forever Fall forest to get some red sap from the trees to help out Ren make some of his signature pancakes; as well as make sure that Nora did eat any of the red sap._

" _Alrighty everybody!" Ruby said with her hands on her hips, "Thanks to Professor Goodwitch's permission we're going to be collecting some red saps for Ren's delicious pancakes!"_

 _Jaune had added, "We've all got enough time to get some red sap, enough to last us four weeks, but remember there's Grimm around this forest, so we'll stay in contact with our scrolls in case we get separated, but other than that, let's have fun with this!"_

 _Yang soon held up a camera, "Come on guys, let's get a group photo for little Dessie!"_

 _Yang placed the camera on a stand, and after pressing on a timer on the button, and quickly ran to the the group. "Quick! Everyone say pancakes!" Nora exclaimed with a smile._

" _Pancakes!" Everyone said with a smile on their face, while Zwei let out a bark. The camera flashed and printed out the photo. Afterwards team JNPR and RWBY split up, and Destiny ended up going with team RWBY._

 _An hour had already gone by, and in that time team RWBY had already collected at least ten jars of red sap. Destiny on the other hand was playing with Zwei, as she sat under one of the trees. She laughed and giggled whenever Zwei did a funny little trick._

" _Hey Destiny!" Yang said calling out to her, "Can you come here a second?"_

 _Destiny got up from where she sat and went over to Yang. "What do you need?" Destiny asked._

" _I just need your help, getting this red sap from the tree." Yang replied, before handing her an empty jar, "Hold this jar, over the faucet while I get it okay?"_

 _Destiny nodded and held under the faucet that they had provided for the tree. The little one watched as the jar started to fill up with the red sap. Destiny couldn't help but stare in awe by it, seeing as how she has never seen it before._

" _So… This tree, basically has syrup in them?" Destiny asked Yang curiously._

" _You bet!" Yang said, "All of that delicious syrup you use on your pancakes had to have come from somewhere. Only red sap tastes way better than maple syrup."_

" _Really?"_

" _Yup, go on have a taste. Just don't eat the whole jar."_

 _After the jar was filled, Destiny dipped her finger getting some of the red sap, and she placed her finger in her mouth to taste the red sap. Her eyes practically sparkled at the taste of the red sap. Yang laughed by the way she reacted. "See? I told you it tastes better than regular syrup." Yang said._

 _Destiny couldn't help but nod her head in agreement. Just than team RWBY was startled by the sound someone screaming; from the sound of it, it appeared to be a girl._

" _What was that!?" Blake said._

" _It sounds like someone's in trouble!" Ruby said drawing her weapon, "Come on!"_

" _Destiny, you stay here with Zwei!" Yang said, "He'll keep you out of trouble! And if we're not back in ten minutes call team JNPR."_

 _Destiny was about to protest but team RWBY already left._

" _They won't be able to handle them." Destiny said aloud, "_ _ **They're**_ _too angry. They'll end up killing them." Thus Destiny ran in the direction where RWBY went, with Zwei following behind her._

 _RWBY ran to sounds of someone calling for help, until final they had found three large ursa, surrounding a tree and clawing at tree. Up on top of the tree there was a young girl at the age of fourteen with her eyes being of an odd color of light blue. She was fanus; she had fox ears and a tail. Her hair was of an aqua green color that transitioned to orange half-way which matched her ears and tail. Her hair was tied at the front with a red ribbon. She wore a grey hoodie with the sleeves going up to her elbows ._

 _She wore a blue skirt which was a-symmetrical that covered her right leg, and under it she had cropped brown leggings, and she wore a pair of green boots._

 _She was holding onto the tree for dear life. Tears streamed down her face as she cowered with fear._

" _ **HELP!**_ " _She cried out through tears, "_ _ **PLEASE SOMEONE HELP ME!**_ "

 _Ruby yelled to the girl, "_ _ **JUST HANG ON! WE'LL GET YOU OUT OF THERE!**_ "

 _Ruby turned to Blake, "See if you can get her out of that tree. We'll keep you covered!"_

 _Blake nodded, and team RWBY charged at the ursa surrounding the tree. The ursa had turned their attention to the team and charged at them. They had begun to attack them head on. Yang threw punches, Weiss attacked with her glyphs, and Ruby used her speed to attack them._

 _Blake on the other hand managed to get into the tree, startling the poor girl. Blake said to her calmly, "It's okay, we're to help you. What's your name?"_

 _The girl replied choking through her sobs, "Scout… Scout Lapis."_

" _My name is Blake." Said to her, "Everything is going to be just fine. Just stay calm and-"_

" _ **LOOK OUT!**_ " _The girl named Scout shouted pointing behind her. Blake turned and was taken by surprise when an ursa had managed to get into the tree and attacked from behind. They both fell out of the tree. Blake landed on her feet while Scout, landed on her side passing out from the impact of the ground. The ursa jumped at Blake, but she took it out with one attack. "Are you okay?!" Weiss exclaimed, before taking out another ursa._

" _I'm fine!" Blake said, "Scout! The girl, she passed out from the fall!"_

" _Blake get her-_ _ **AH!**_ "

 _Ruby was soon caught off guard when an Ursa attacked her from behind. She flew right into a tree losing her Crescent Rose in the process._

" _ **RUBY!**_ " _Yang exclaimed, but was soon hit by ursa that attacked her; she flew right into Weiss, knocking her to the floor. Ruby tried to back up as far as she could from the ursa, but found that she couldn't go any further. Ruby stared at the ursa, her eyes widened with horror, as the ursa was ready to kill her. She shut her eyes so that she wouldn't see the attack coming. Through her closed eyes, however, she suddenly felt a flash right in front of her._

" _Stop!" An all to familiar voice had said._

 _Ruby slowly opened her eyes, and saw that Destiny was standing right in front of her. Her arms were spread out wide and was in a protective stance. To Ruby's and the rest of her teammates surprise, the ursa just stood there, it's paw lowered to the ground._

" _... Destiny…?" Ruby said with confusion._

 _Destiny reached for her eyepatch and removed it. She let it drop to the ground. The ursa leaned forward and actually started to sniff her face. Blake who had gotten up from the ground and was about to attack the ursa, but Destiny had stopped her. "It's alright Blake, I know what I'm doing." The little one said calmly._

 _The ursa had continued to sniff the child's face, they were shocked when they saw Destiny reach out to the ursa, and had started to pet it in a comforting way, shushing it._

" _I know…" Destiny said, "I know… You're angry I know… But it's alright. Just relax your mind. Just let go…"_

 _There was a dim glow between them, but in a short amount of time the light had faded._

" _There you go…" Destiny said, slowly descending to her knees, "There you go…"_

 _The ursa had walked away and disappeared into the trees. Weiss, Blake and Yang quickly ran over to their leader. "Ruby!" Yang exclaimed hugging her._

" _Thank God!" Weiss said, "You're okay!"_

" _You're not hurt are you?" Blake asked her._

" _I-I'm fine." Ruby said._

 _They all turned to Destiny, seeing that she was catching her breath. "Destiny?" Ruby said questioningly, "How… How in the world did you do that?"_

" _I…" Destiny replied, "I'd rather not talk about it…"_

" _But you just, calmed down a Grimm." Yang pointed out, "No one has been able to do that let alone get that close to one. How in the world did you do that?"_

 _Destiny didn't answer this time. She reached for her eye patch but Ruby placed her hand over the child's hand._

" _Destiny…" Ruby said, "Your eye… Were you hiding something with your eye patch?"_

 _Destiny had replied hesitantly, "...Yes… But… I don't know if…"_

 _She was stopped by Blake, "Please. You trusted us, with telling us who you're father is. You can trust us now."_

" _...Are you sure?" Destiny asked._

" _Of course we are." Weiss replied._

 _Ruby felt Destiny clench her hand; she had let out a sigh. "Okay." She said, "But you probably won't like it."_

 _Destiny turned around having her head down as she did. She picked up her head and team RWBY's eyes widened in shock by what they saw._

 _What they saw on the eye that was once covered with an patch. Connecting to her eye was black veins and her eye was coated with black; the eye was orange instead of her natural green color._

 _They couldn't believe it. The eye that she possessed…_ _**had actually resembled the creatures of Grimm**_ _._

 _ **(Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4-I Will Performed by Sowelu)**_


	9. Chapter Epilogue: The Friend of Destiny

_**NOTE:**_ _Sorry in a way this is basically an epilogue to chapter 8, but it's going to be a little short! So very sorry about that, but I hope you enjoy anyway ^_^._

 _ **(Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **Dormitories**_ -

Pyrrha had returned to the dormitories along with the teenage girl she had met earlier that day. They had placed Destiny in Pyrrha's bed and she let out raspy breathing, and they had already removed her eyepatch so that she would be more comfortable. The young teenage girl had placed a wet cloth and wiped her face trying to cool her off since she had a fever.

"You're lucky I came by when I did." The girl said to Pyrrha said, "Who knows what Atlas would've done if they found you inside the computer room."

"I appreciate the help." Pyrrha said to her honestly, "Thank you… Um…"

"Cristal." The girl replied, "My name is Cristal. You don't need to introduce yourself, I already know who you are."

Pyrrha was shocked about that. "You do?" She asked.

The girl named Cristal nodded her head and turned back to Destiny, now placing the wet cloth on her forehead, "This little princess here, might've mentioned your fight in the tournament to me, as well as team RWBY."

Pyrrha seemed to put two and two together on that, "Oh, you must be the friend that Destiny always talked about."

"That I am." Cristal replied, before holding out her hand to Pyrrha so that she could shake it, "It's a pleasure, Pyrrha Nikos."

Pyrrha let out a friendly smile and took her hand to shake it, "The pleasure is all mine, Cristal. Is Destiny going to be alright?"

"She's… She's gonna be just fine." Cristal said, "It's a bit of side effect she get's."

"Side effect?" Pyrrha asked, "To what?"

"I think it's best if she tells you that when she wakes up." Was all that Cristal replied, "That is if she can remember."

Pyrrha found that to be a bit strange, but decided to go along with what Cristal said. "Um… If you don't mind me asking, how exactly do you know Destiny?"

Cristal replied, as she got up from her seat to look out the window, "I've pretty much known Destiny when I was a little girl. In fact, I've known her since she was baby, just around the time her mother went to the afterlife."

"So your basically her big sister." Pyrrha said.

Cristal turned to her and smirked, "Something like that."

"What more can you tell me about yourself?" Pyrrha asked, "Honestly, I'm a bit curious. Destiny never actually mentioned your relationship with her."

"There's not really much to say." Cristal replied, "Basically while her dad was away doing, late night 'work' I've been keeping her company, played all kinds of games, and we both talked about a lot of things. Sometimes when she got sick, I'd keep her company late at night before her dad came to check on her. But like I said, there's not much to say about it our relationship, it's just basic normal friendship."

"It doesn't really sound like a normal friendship." Pyrrha said, "It sounds like she looks up to you. Though I find it a bit strange that she never really spoke about you."

"I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't mention my name to you." Cristal said, "She knows how much I like to keep things private."

"You like to keep secrets?"

"Pretty much yeah. I have my reasons for keeping secrets, as do you I imagine."

Pyrrha raised her eyebrow at this, "What are you talking about?"

"They say eyes always know the truth." Cristal said, "And I can tell, that your conflicted by your little secret. You don't know what choice you should make, so your having a difficulty deciding."

Pyrrha stammered trying to say something, but not really knowing what to say, but found it best not too. An awkward silence was between them. Cristal sighed and said, "I know it's not really my place, but if I can make a suggestion, you can look to a friend for help. Just get there opinion on it. You don't have to tell them or that person that secret if you don't want to, but just ask in a way you won't have to say a word about it."

Pyrrha thought about what Cristal had said, and let out a small smile, "I appreciate what your saying, and I'll be sure to take your word for it. It's strange… I've only just met you and I feel like I've known you for a while."

Cristal couldn't help but chuckle at that, "I'll take that as a compliment."

Cristal looked at the time, "As much as I loved to get to know you, I have to get going. There's… _**Something I need to look into**_."

"You don't have to go. The rest of my team and RWBY would want to meet you." Pyrrha said, trying to persuade her to stay.

"I wish I could, but I can't." Cristal said, "Because well, let's just say it's important work. Just be sure to say hi to Destiny when she wakes up."

Pyrrha nodded her head in understanding, "I understand. And I'll make sure Destiny get's your message." Pyrrha said, "Will I see you again?"

"That depends." Cristal was all she replied walking towards the door, "Just make sure whatever your secret is, you make the right choice."

Pyrrha simply nodded her head, and Cristal turned her back to. Just as Cristal exited the door and entered the hallway, she stopped in her tracks and turned back slightly.

"I'll see you around… _**Pyra**_."

Pyrrha's eyes widened by the sound of her nickname. The nickname Pyra, the only one that called her that was Destiny. She quickly turned to say something to Cristal but when she did…

She had suddenly disappeared.

( _ **Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4 I Will-Performed by Sowelu**_ )


	10. Chapter 9: The Past to the Present

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

 _ **I want to be strong.**_

 _ **A beautiful ring, for a beautiful woman.**_

 _ **I'm sorry?**_

 _ **I want to be feared.**_

 _ **What!? That's impossible! What did-**_

 _ **There she went that way!**_

 _ **I want to be powerful.**_

 _ **Someone, call the police!**_

 _ **How in the world did she do that?**_

* * *

"How did you do that?"

Emerald had found herself cornered in an alleyway of the city. There that stood before her was a young beautiful woman with a pair of golden eyes and short black hair covering one eye. She wore a red dress that tied around her neck and revealed her back. Underneath the dress she on laced cropped leggings with it she wore brown heels. She on earrings that was of black of a black diamond. Around her ankle, was what appeared to be of the same black diamonds. On a holster that connected to her back she appeared to have double swords.

The alley that Emerald was in had a dead end. She could only think of one thing to do against her enemy.

"Don't." The woman said stopping her, "Unless of course, you want them to hear you."

Emerald moved her hands away from her weapons when she heard the jeweler shout faintly from the distance.

"What do you want!?" Emerald demanded.

"I've already told you." The woman said, "And I don't like repeating myself."

"I didn't do anything!" Emerald said with a glare, "Just leave me alone!"

The woman smiled while raising an eyebrow; she looked a bit amused. "I know my fair share of liars and thieves." The woman said, "Stealing is an art of patience, coordination, and in a pinch, sleight of hand. But you didn't steal that ring in your pocket."

Emerald appeared to have been taken back by this, surprised that the woman standing before her knows that.

The woman continued, "You took it right before the jeweler's eyes. _**And he smiled.**_ "

"Who…" Emerald stammered, "Who are you?"

The woman smiled, and simply replied, "Cinder. Cinder Fall."

* * *

 _ **For now on, you will question everything you know.**_

 _ **N-no way… This is impossible!**_

 _ **I wish to take on an apprentice.**_

 _ **He lives in the mountains, with his son and daughter.**_

 _ **Follow me… And you'll never go hungry again.**_

 _ **Thank you…**_

* * *

A young teenage girl with shoulder length gray hair and gray eyes wearing a simple black tank top with long dark green pants with black shoes. She appeared to have a single stitch on her right and left shoulder. A young teenage boy used the girl for support to stand on his feet. He wore a gray and black short sleeved shirt with an uneven collar, with a pair of brown pants and fingerless gloves on his hands. He had bandages around his legs and it was a bit drenched in blood. His eye was closed and the both of them were covered in bruises, but from the looks of it, the girl was in better condition than him despite her having a few serious cuts.

The girl had a small pistol pointed at the two of them. Cinder had stood from a distance calmly while Emerald had seemed a bit tensed up. Emerald tried to move forward but the girl said while pointing the gun to her, making her stop in her tracks, "Don't move! I swear I'll shot!"

"Easy now young one." Cinder said to her calmly, with no sign of fear in her voice, "We're not looking for any trouble."

This time the teenage boy spoke, "State your business, what do you want!?"

Cinder replied, "I'm looking for Marcus Black."

The boy spit some blood to the side, and gestured over to his left, "There you go."

There a man lay on the grassy floor, showing no signs of movement, or for that matter breathing at all. Emerald was shocked at this, " _ **That's**_ the assassin?"

Cinder looked to them, "And _**you're**_ his children."

The girl lowered her hand that had a gun in her hand, and the boy wiped the blood that was on his mouth.

"You saw the fight?" The girl asked her.

Cinder nodded and said, "We watched from the treelines. He's taught you the both of you well."

"Guess so." The boy said.

"What are your names?" Cinder asked them curiously.

Both of the teens glanced at each other for a moment then looked back to Cinder. "Mercury." The teenage boy replied.

The girl had answered, with a bit of hesitation, "Rosario."

Cinder smiled, "Mercury, and Rosario. Tell me… Are you two anything like your father?"

* * *

 _ **What's in it for us?**_

 _ **What do we get out of it exactly?**_

 _ **We don't need them! Everything was going fi-AH!**_

 _ **Do NOT mistake your place.**_

 _ **Our dad always said… "If you need to know the city just ask the rats."**_

 _ **Well, hello gorgeous.**_

* * *

"So. Let me get this straight."

Cinder stood before the leader of the White Fang by the name of Adam Taurus, while, Emerald, Mercury and Rosario kneeled before him as a sign of respect before the leader of the White Fang.

Adam paced as he said, "You could've gone to anyone for help, you could've made a deal with a gang leader, paid off some Huntsmen who had strayed from there righteous path, but instead… You choose to seek an audience with me."

"You're the one that we need." Cinder said, "Your skill. Your ability to lead those beneath you. You're an exceptionally valuable man Adam. And we've put a lot of thought into-"

Adam cut her off, "Then your clearly not thinking straight! If you truly understood me, than you'd know coming here was a mistake! The White Fang is not an organization for hire. We're a force of revolution!"

"I believe our plan will be _**beneficial**_ for all parties involved." Cinder said, "I have… An _**associate**_ in Vale. He and I are working on a revolution of our own. But we can't do it without your forces. We need-"

"What you need is to leave." Adam said, "You're asking my men to die for your cause. _**A human cause.**_ That is an idea I will not entertain."

"Very well." Cinder said as she bowed her head. Thus the four of them took their leave. Adam watched them disappear within the forest. Blake had soon approached from behind just as they left. "What was that about?" Blake asked curiously.

"Nothing." Adam replied, "We need to finish preparing. The train will be here at dawn."

* * *

 _ **So what do we do now?**_

 _ **There's another task we need to attend to.**_

 _ **Excuse me? I'm looking for a friend of mine.**_

 _ **Ah, yes, she was just here yesterday.**_

 _ **Remember the plan, exactly as discussed. Not a foot out of place.**_

* * *

The sky had blotted out the sun, and the roads were completely empty. Well nearly empty.

A young woman rode on the back of a white steed, through a dirt road. She possessed a green hooded cloak, her hood covered her face. She wore a top that was of an off white blouse with a brown vest a corset and pants, all having the same color as the vest. She had on a golden bracer on her left arm and a golden pauldron on her shoulder. She had on a shoulder strap that slung diagonally across her body.

As the woman continued down the road, she had soon stopped in her tracks when she saw a little girl sitting on the ground in a fetal position next to a broken bike. She appeared to be crying.

The young woman dismounted from her horse and had gotten something from one of the pouches, and approached the little girl.

The little girl picked up her head revealing her red crimson eyes; the young woman let out a friendly smile. The little girl let out a whimper at the stranger before her. The young woman had seemed to have pulled out an apple out of nowhere and handed it to the little one.

What the young woman didn't know, is that their was no little girl at all. Instead, Emerald had stood from a distance, using her semblance to make the woman think that there is a little girl sitting in front of her. Seeing how she had right where she wanted her, she drew her weapon.

Unfortunately it had given away her position. The woman noticed dirt kick off the floor on it's own, and everything was at a standstill. She quickly jumped back and the little girl disappeared. The horse quickly ran out of fear, and the cloak was removed the woman, revealing herself to be Amber. She drew her weapon which was and drew her weapon which was an expandable staff.

Emerald ran and fired at her, but Amber blocked the bullets with just her hand. She spun her staff, and with it she was able to create wind; it flew towards Emerald pushing her back. Mercury attacked from the side and tried to kick her; she was able to block him and send him flying. Emerald attempted to charge at her again but she flew back due to the wind attack.

Soon enough Rosario attacked from the other side. She charged at her and kicked her, causing the a bullet to fire. But unfortunately it didn't last long seeing as how she pushed her back with her staff. Both her and Mercury rocketed towards her and they soon found themselves engulfed in fire. Though the aura had protected them, part of their pants had burned off; Revealing that both of the siblings had prosthetic legs. Mercury's leg were both prosthetic while Rosario's right leg was prosthetic. They both kicked her at the same time sending Amber flying back, and losing her weapon.

Emerald landed right on top of Amber, making a crater underneath.

Mercury, Emerald, and Rosario stood before Amber; preparing to defend themselves as she stood from the floor.

Suddenly, Amber's eyes started to light up with fire, literally, and the three of them found themselves in the middle of a tornado, which was created by her. As quick as the tornado came, it had quickly vanished. Amber started to float high above in the air. She lifted her hands and lighting appeared from the clouds up above. With a simple movement of her hand, she sent lighting flying towards them. Emerald, Mercury and Rosario dodged the lightings that striked where they stood and where they kept hitting the ground.

When the lighting had stopped, they started to fire at Amber. Both Mercury and Rosario kicked which had triggered the guns, and Emerald just fired from her weapons. Though despite all three of them aiming the perfect shot, it was all blocked by a barrier of some kind, not even hitting her skin.

Amber clenched her fist, and small leaves from the trees nearby and had circled around Amber. Once again with a simple movement of her hand the leaves had suddenly turned to ice.

She sent it flying towards them as if it was raining hail. They had managed to block the attack but barely, as it had managed to graze their skin. All of them screamed in agonizing pain.

Amber soon heard running from a distance. She turned and saw Cinder running towards her. She had quickly formed a fireball, and sent it flying towards her.

Though Cinder was quick on her feet. She jumped over just where the fireball had landed, and landed on her feet, sliding on the ground. Using her semblance she created several pillars from the residue of the fireball. She sent it flying towards Amber, causing her to get knocked out of the sky. Amber fell to the ground hard, creating a crater.

Amber picked up her head and saw that the four attackers were nowhere to be seen, but caught a glimpse of Emerald. Than she caught a glimpse of Mercury, Rosario and Cinder. The three of them were running towards her. They appeared to be moving with great agility.

Cinder pulled out her dual swords from behind her back and attacked Amber head on. She swung and kicked at her, continuing on with this pattern. Until Amber caught her off guard and kicked her back. And though Cinder was pushed at a distance, creating a trail, all she did was smirk. Mercury, Emerald, and Rosario attacked Amber, but she was able to hold her ground.

While Amber's back was turned, Cinder had connected her two swords, instantly creating a bow. She armed it with three arrows, and aimed them around Amber's feet, catching her by surprise. There was suddenly an explosion, which caused Amber to scream in agony and her aura instantly broke. As the dust cleared, the four of them saw Amber on the ground.

Cinder approached her, preparing to finish what she had came for with, Emerald, Mercury, and Rosario following from close behind. They were suddenly pushed back by a powerful gust of wind, causing Cinder to be disarmed. Rosario and Mercury charged at Amber, but were knocked out by a shock of lighting. She sent a fire attack in Emerald's direction; one hitting an illusion, but then hitting the real one.

Amber picked up her staff and staggered towards Emerald using her staff as support. Emerald picked up her head, and found herself being stared down by Amber. She lifted her staff and prepared to finish her, when…

" **AH!** "

Amber had suddenly felt something sharp pierce her back, she fell on her knees when she felt herself overcome with pain. Turned out Cinder had fired an arrow while her back was turned to her, Cinder couldn't help but smirk with triumph.

Cinder dropped her arrow to the ground and walked towards her. As she did, she removed what appeared to a white glove from her pouch. Mercury and Emerald grabbed both of Amber's arms and held her there, placing both of their feet on her back. Cinder put on the white glove on her right hand, and Amber had struggled to get out of Mercury and Emerald's grip, despite the huge amount of pain she was in.

Rosario had gotten up from the ground, just now recovering from Amber's talked and watched the scene that was happening before her. Cinder held her hand just in front of Amber's face. A red eye appeared in the palm of her hand and out of the red hand, a grimm type beetle seemed to crawl out of it.

Both Rosario and Amber's eyes widened in horror at this.

"Please don't…" Amber begged.

"Wait a minute, what are you-" Rosario started to say to Cinder while stammering. All of a sudden the beetle seemed to have spitted out some sort of black goop which had covered half of her face. She let out a horrific scream which had startled Rosario. Mercury and Emerald were taken back by that too, but not as much as Rosario.

Right before her very eyes, the power that Amber had possessed had suddenly started to drain away. Rosario put her hand over her mouth and she watched in horror as this happened. Fire had started to form around Cinder's eye.

"N-No…" Rosario said to herself, "This-This isn't what-"

Just as the process was about to finish, they were suddenly caught by surprise when a huntsman, one by the name of Qrow ran towards them drawing his weapon. Qrow had cut the line and kicked away both Mercury and Emerald. He had then picked up Amber, holding her bridal style in his arms. Cinder landed on her feet and the glove had suddenly sunk into her skin. A mark of some kind appeared on her back, and fire was around her single eye.

Qrow looked to Amber's attacker, but saw that someone her face was all blurred up. He didn't have time to focus on the attacker when a red eye appeared just underneath his feet. He quickly moved before the ground which he stood on before had suddenly exploded.

And just like that, Amber's attackers were gone.

* * *

 _ **The Huntsman severed the connection before it was complete-Yes… It's an emptiness. It burns… Like hunger… I like it. Yes… I will claim what is ours. Thank you.**_

 _ **You can't just leave! Not after all that's happened!**_

 _ **After what we helped Cinder do to that girl… Mercury, this is something I didn't sign up for. She said that we would be part of a revolution not… This! You and your new friends can continue this plan, but you can continue without me.**_

 _ **Rosario, don't do this!**_

 _ **I'm sorry… Goodbye brother.**_

 _ **Let her go. She made her choice. Let's focus on getting those who are useful on our side.**_

* * *

Roman sat on his favorite chair wearing just casual clothing, looking through envelopes, as his only daughter Destiny sat on a small couch while she watched whatever was on the small television, wearing a simple casual purple dress; the medicine she had sat by her side where the IV tube had connected to her chest. The apartment that they had stayed was small and a bit rundown with the paint peeling off of the walls, and the carpet floor was old, and patches of it was missing. The kitchen was filled with nothing but dirty dishes, and in the kitchen there was but a single table, with two chairs. The table looked as though it hadn't been cleaned recently.

Though the apartment was small and a bit cramped, he and his daughter didn't seem to mind it as much. Sure they weren't rolling in money, but Roman had managed somehow despite the amount of bills he had gotten in the mail. Speaking of which the envelopes that he looked had the amount of money he owed for bills most of them being medical and or tax, either that or he was overdue. He grumbled in anger and ripped it up, throwing in a trash bin nearby.

He ran his hands through his hair and groaned.

"Daddy?" Destiny asked noticing that he was a bit angry, "Is everything okay?"

Roman looked to his daughter and reassured her, "It's nothing princess, everything is just fine. Don't worry about it alright?"

Destiny was about to say something when they heard a knock at the door. Roman had gotten up from his chair thinking that it could be Neo, making the daily visit.

"Neo? Is that you?" Roman said as he approached the door, "It's a bit early for a visit you know? What is it that your-"

As soon as Roman looked through peephole provided he saw that it wasn't his partner Neo, but the woman he had met earlier that week. Cinder Fall. Along with her companions, Emerald and Mercury, though they were short on a person.

"Hello Roman." Cinder said through the door Destiny also hearing her voice, "I was told I'd find you here by a man named Junior. Do you have a moment to talk?"

Roman replied a bit hesitantly, "Yeah, hang on just give me a minute."

Roman quickly retreated from the door. He had taken the remote beside Destiny and shut off the television. "Dad? What's going on?" Destiny asked with a whisper.

Roman replied to his daughter with a whisper, "It's just some of daddy's associates wanting to talk to me. They don't know about you, so you can't be seen." He picked Destiny up and carried her to her room just down the hall with a quick pace. He placed her on her bed, "I promise it won't take long, but until I'm done, stay in here no matter what you hear, and stay as quiet as possible."

Destiny nodded her head, "Be careful."

"I'm always careful." Roman replied, before kissing her on her forehead. He left her room and shut the door behind him. He than went to the back to the door and opened it, letting the three of them into the small apartment. "Nice to see you again, Cinder was it?" Roman said, "What do I owe the pleasure of this visit? I'm assuming it's not social."

Cinder turned to him, while, Emerald and Mercury looked around his apartment curious to see how exactly he was living.

"Do you remember that little favor I told you about on the day we came for information about the White Fang?" Cinder had asked him.

"Sure, why do you ask?" Roman asked curiously.

Cinder had replied calmly, "It just happens that I am in need of your assistance. As you no doubt can tell, I'm a bit… Short on a person."

"I noticed that. What, did Rosa decided to quit while she was ahead?"

"You could say that."

"What exactly is it that you need me for?"

As Roman talked to her, he watched as Mercury and Emerald, but he seemed to have gotten a bit nervous when Mercury had gotten closer to the hall. But of course he didn't show it while he was standing in front of Cinder.

"I've heard about your reputation through a colleague of yours, Junior." Cinder said, "Your an incredibly talented thief Roman. Avoiding all of the Vale cops the way you did, constantly escaping from prison."

"You mind if I ask, where you're going with this exactly?" Roman asked.

"I require, your assistance, to gather Dust for the coming, _**revolution**_ I have in mind." She replied.

Roman raised his eyebrow at this, "Revolution? What do you mean?"

Cinder replied, "There's not much I can tell you but I can tell you this. Once I get the White Fang on my side, let's just say this peace we have in this kingdom, will come to an end."

Roman seemed to put things together at this, "Wait a minute… You're not talking about starting a war are you?"

"You seem to catch on quick." Cinder commented, "But like I said. I can't let you into the certain… _**Information**_ about the plan I have in mind."

Roman kind of backed up at this but had honestly said, "Look, I don't know if you read my resume, but I just steal lien and other necessities for the benefit of others no questions asked, but your talking about taking down a kingdom-I'm going to assume this is what you're doing. I don't know if you noticed, but I don't do things like that."

Cinder seemed to have a certain look in her eye. "I think your misunderstanding the situation here Roman."

She lifted her palm, and suddenly there was a flame had appeared, taking Roman by surprise, he couldn't help but back up. "Either you help us, or you pay with your life."

Roman gulped, but stood his ground. He grabbed ahold of his weapon and held aimed directly under her chin; though she was unphased not much to his surprise since in his line of work he encountered people like Cinder before. "You asked me to do you a favor, and I gave you my answer. So you should leave before things start to get ugly." Roman said with a glare; though secretly he was hoping he wouldn't resort to violence since his daughter was close by.

Just when Cinder was about to attack, she soon saw Emerald pick up something. Cinder saw that it was picture, that she had peek out of her pocket so that she had seen it and that Roman didn't. Cinder smirked and allowed the flame to disappear; in turn he retracted his weapon and placed it back where it was. "Very well Roman." She said calmly, "If that is your answer, than I will take my leave. Hope you have a pleasant day."

With that Cinder, Emerald, and Mercury left the apartment without saying a word shutting the door behind them Roman sighed with relief before hearing a door creak open. Destiny had walked out of her room.

"Dad?" Destiny asked, "Who was that lady? What did she want?"

Roman sighed and turned to hug her which caught Destiny by surprise.

"Don't worry about her princess." He said, "You won't see her again. And I hope you never do."

Destiny seemed to be a bit confused by this, but she leaned into her dad's embrace just trying to forget about the conversation she had heard.

* * *

 _ **...The girl… Roman's daughter? How can you be sure? Oh… I see. She will prove quite useful with the plan, and we'll get Roman on our side. Yes. When all is set and done, I'll deliver her to you.**_

* * *

Adam couldn't believe what was happening. Blake had betrayed the White Fang; turned her back on their cause. He had only but one question; Why? Why would she do it? That was all he could ask himself.

"We'll find her sir." His lieutenant reassured him, "I swear on my life."

"Forget it!" Adam said with frustration, "It's time I returned to Mistral and-"

Suddenly Adam was cut off when they heard gunfire from outside of the tent and people screaming. Adam and the lieutenant ran outside of the tent.

" **WHAT IS THIS!?** " Adam exclaimed.

There before him, he saw that it was the three people that he had encountered before. Though Cinder's two adversary's had cases held in front of them. Cinder had her swords drawn.

"We could've gone to anyone for help, but we chose _**you**_ Adam Taurus." Cinder said, throwing her weapons to the ground, "Our plan will be beneficial for both of us."

Flames had suddenly appeared just near their feet, causing the both of them to back up. " _ **Or one of us.**_ " Cinder said with a smirk. Emerald and Mercury, opened the cases. One had contained Dust crystals as well as containers and the other contained money and lots of it.

Adam looked to her. "So which will it be?" Cinder said.

Adam and his lieutenant looked at each other. Ultimately they had both accepted what Cinder had offered. They didn't say anything, but Cinder knew what their answer was. "Good." Cinder said with a smile, allowing the flames to disappear, "There is just one simple task I want you to complete."

"And that would be?" Adam asked her.

Cinder pulled out a photograph and threw it towards Adam. He caught and looked at the photograph, see is of a little girl with magenta hair and two parts of her bangs were of orange, and she had single green eye with an eye patch over it and an IV connected to her chest.

"I need you to retrieve this girl." Cinder said, "But she is not to be harmed when you capture her."

"What is this girl to you?" Adam asked her.

Cinder simply smiled and said, "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find out soon enough."

* * *

 _ **Dad? Neo? Is that you? -Wait, you're not-Who are you!?**_

 _ **Quick grab her!**_

 _ **No! Where are you taking me!? Let me go!**_

 _ **Don't do anything stupid, and you won't get hurt.**_

 _ **Let me go please! Dad! Help me! Dad!**_

* * *

It had already been hours, but Roman had found no trace of his daughter anywhere. He was really worried, when he didn't find her in back in the apartment, since Destiny had a habit of sneaking out of her room, but when he went to check her secret hideout, she was nowhere to be seen. He had gotten scared, when he couldn't find her. He had gotten his partner Neo to help him look for her. But despite this, he couldn't find her anywhere.

It was already nighttime and he was calling out his daughter's name as walked through the sidewalk.

Neo had soon caught up with him.

"Neo!" Roman exclaimed, "Please, for the love of God, tell me you found her?"

Neo had sadly shook her head, "I'm sorry Roman, but I looked everywhere." She said, "Hell, I've even double checked places, but I can't find her anywhere."

Roman couldn't help but groan in frustration, "Damn it. This isn't like her at all. If she's not in her usual places, or even her hideout, than where-"

"Missing something Roman?"

Both Roman and Neo turned around and saw Cinder standing before them. "You?" Roman said, glaring at her, "What the hell do you want?"

Cinder took out her scroll, "Oh, I just thought I show you a little something that might peak your interest."

Roman and Neo raised their eyebrows at this. Cinder than pulled up a live footage. Roman's eyes widened in horror when he saw his daughter; trapped in a small room with no windows with a single mattress, pillow and blanket and cupboard and a single lamp. There was no sound, but he saw her slamming her fists on the door in the room, shouting for help as tears fell like rain from her face.

He glared at her, "What the hell is this!?"

Cinder had replied calmly, "It's just a little leverage."

Roman held up his weapon, and aimed for her, "Where is she!? What have you done to her!?"

"Don't worry Roman." Cinder said, putting her scroll away, "She's in the capable hands of the White Fang and I can assure you she's being well taken care of. And she'll stay that way as long as I say so."

"... What are trying to say?" Neo said while drawing her weapon.

Cinder said, eyeing Roman in particular, "Roman Torchwick, the way I see it, you have two choices. You can either help me with my little plan, and have a chance to see your daughter. Or… I can make it certain, that your little girl will _**never be seen again.**_ "

Roman and Neo turned to each other and looked back at Cinder. She smiled, "So what do you say Roman? Do we have a deal?"

Roman put down his weapon, "If I help you, you'll give me back my daughter?"

Cinder simply replied, "You have my word."

* * *

 _ **Ladies and gentlemen, Yang Xiao Long wins the match!**_

 _ **YEAH! SIS YOU DID IT!**_

 _ **Better luck next time Merc.**_

 _ **There's not going to be a next time blondie…**_

 _ **Yang Xiao Long stand down!**_

 _ **AH MY LEG! MY LEG!**_

* * *

No one couldn't believe what they had just witnessed. One of Beacons prized students had shot a defenseless student. It was so unbelievable not even Yang herself couldn't believe it. There she stood pretty much frozen as she watched the scene happening before her. Paramedics came with a stretcher; running towards Emerald and Mercury.

"Please! Someone help him!" Emerald begged.

The paramedics came and placed the stretcher just beside him. "Can you do something!?" Emerald said with worry.

A paramedic had took a quick look at Mercury's injury. "We need to get this boy to the hospital." He said to the other paramedic.

They helped on the stretcher; they carried them him out of the stadium with Emerald running beside them. Yang watched as they left the arena.

"You don't understand!" She tried to persuade the Atlas soldier, "He attacked me, I swear that's what happened! Please believe me!"

"Stow it!" The Atlas soldier said, "You already caused enough of a scene."

Yang wanted to try and make them believe her, but she thought it best not to say anything.

The paramedics continued down the hall bringing him to one of the ambulances.

Just than a woman who was also a paramedic had gotten their attention, "Over here!" She said, "We got an ambulance ready to go."

They bought Mercury inside and the ship closed shut; the two paramedics stood just outside.

"Hope they'll be okay." One of the paramedics said, "That girl won't leave his side."

"Don't worry we'll take good care of the both of them."

The woman went in the ship and thus they left. Finally the paramedic removed her hat and it was revealed to be Cinder, she fixed up her hair, seeing as how no one else was on the ship except for them.

"Oh, doc!" Mercury said, being over-dramatic, "Tell me! Will I ever walk again?"

Emerald punched him in the arm. Mercury couldn't help but cry out in pain and sit up, "What's your deal?" He said.

Emerald felt a bit dizzy, "Ugh… Headache." She groaned, "One mind I can handle but two is a stretch."

"Well you all performed marvelously." Cinder said, after she was done fixing her hair, "Driver included."

Of course she was referring to Neo, being the driver in disguise. All Neo did was smile and nod her head though secretly she was less than thrilled to be sitting beside Cinder but was wise enough to not show this emotion in front of her.

"... So, do you think it worked?" Mercury asked.

* * *

- _ **One Day Later**_ -

 _ **A terrible tragedy took place, during the one on one rounds in the Vytal Festival.**_

 _ **I don't know what the Beacon Headmaster is teaching his students, but that was disgraceful, and completely uncalled for.**_

 _ **Despite Atlas reinforcements, local authorities are calling on any available, Huntsmen to aid the suppressing spike of Grimm Activity.**_

The TV had suddenly shut turned off and Mercury couldn't help but groan as he fixed up his leg. "I was watching that you know."

"Shut up." Emerald said with a bit of annoyance.

"Is this how you treat a patient?" Mercury asked her, "Seriously, my sister was a better doctor than you."

Emerald purposely tightened on a screw which made him cry out in slight agony, "Ow! Too tight!"

"Enough." Cinder said, "Our Mercury put on a wonderful show. He was quite brave."

Mercury went back to fixing up his leg, "These things aren't exactly cheap ya know."

"So what's next?" Emerald asked Cinder, raising an eyebrow.

Cinder replied, "You and I will make sure that our next matchup goes… _**Just as smoothly**_."

Cinder and Emerald proceeded to exit out of the warehouse they were currently in.

"What about me?" Mercury asked.

"You get to lay low until the end." Cinder replied, "We wouldn't want people to see you on your feet and have this all be for naught now would we?"

Mercury smiled and said, "Can do." Before going back to fixing up his leg.

 _ **(Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4-I Will Performed By Sowelu)**_


	11. Chapter 10: The Path We Choose

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **One Week Earlier**_ -

 _Team RWBY had already contacted JNPR just after they had beaten the ursa, and had told them what had happened. Even the fact that they that Destiny had actually calmed down a Grimm, and what was under her eyepatch. Although they found it hard to believe until they saw her eye for themselves. They had returned to their dormitories, after making sure that the girl Scout had gotten to the hospital safe and sound. And thanks to a friend of hers who was actually her teacher they had gone back home to Patch. Destiny sat on Blake's bed, petting Zwei on the head as he rested on her lap._

 _Team RWBY and JNPR stared at her eye since her eye patch was still off of her face. They had all just sat there quietly not really knowing what to say exactly; Destiny hadn't known what to say either._

 _Finally, Ruby had spoken with a bit of an awkwardness, "So… You're eye… "_

 _Destiny didn't look to her as she had said, "Yeah… I know. It's scary right?"_

" _No, no, it's not that." Yang said, "It's just surprising."_

 _Pyrrha said, "So this was the other secret that you were talking about a week ago?"_

 _Destiny nodded still not making eye contact._

" _What… Happened exactly?" Jaune asked her, "How did your eye get like that?"_

 _Destiny didn't say anything; she just froze as she petted Zwei on the head, and the corgi couldn't help but whine just begging for attention._

 _Weiss reassured her, "You don't have to tell us if you don't want to."_

 _Destiny shook her head, "This is something you all deserve to know. Just promise me you'll keep this a secret."_

" _Of course." Ren said, "You can trust us with this."_

" _Now, please tell us." Nora said gently._

 _Destiny nodded and started to explain, "My father told me this story, when I asked the same question to where I had gotten this eye. He told me it happened around the time my mother had gone to heaven. It was about a year after I was born; my mom and dad lived in the countryside of Vale, in a small town. Back then my dad didn't have to steal, he had a respectable job in the town just working around the clock in a local restaurant as a bartender. Sure it didn't pay much, but they managed with what they had. They were happy back then, and were just like any other happy family within the kingdoms. That all changed one day when, the Grimm had invaded the town."_

 _Both teams gasped at this, "Your town was invaded by Grimm?" Nora asked._

 _Destiny nodded her head and continued, "My dad tried his best to drive them out with the others from the town till Atlas had gotten there, but they never came to help. By every hour my dad said the numbers of the Grimm grew. Those that tried to defend their homes, ended up getting eaten, or worse. Before dad knew it, he heard my mom screaming for help. She called out his name and he ran back to the house. When he got there he saw a woman inside. He said, she had the same eyes as me, but he just said that it was different from mine. I don't know what he meant by that, but I didn't ask. She had my mother cornered, and my mom was holding me close was what my dad said. He tried to fight the stranger but she ended up knocking him out."_

 _Destiny started to tremble at the next part. She couldn't even find her next words. Ruby sat beside her and gave her a comforting hug._

" _It's okay Dessie." Ruby reassured her, "Just take your time."_

" _Yeah, there's no rush." Yang said._

 _Destiny nodded and wiped her eyes to prevent herself from crying. She continued, but said with a bit of hesitation, "He didn't know how long he was out, but by the time he woke up, the Grimm were already gone, and most of the people that tried to fight back were all gone. And my mom she…" At this point Destiny had begun to cry, "He said… That she died protecting me, and that the lady, she had already infected me. Though my dad… He doesn't know why she had me infected with Grimm. But he wanted to keep me safe, so he had to leave everything he knew behind him, and he found an apartment in the city. When he couldn't find any other jobs, in the city he knew there was only one way to make money. He had to steal it. After that he would always take jobs from people to do, and if he wasn't doing any of that, he would take me out on a father daughter day he would call it."_

 _Team RWBY and JNPR thought about Destiny's story for a moment. They all seemed to put two and two together, "That's why Roman kept you hidden all that time. To keep you safe from the person that infected you." Blake said.._

 _Destiny nodded her head at that._

" _How did you get in front of me and that Ursa back at the forest anyway?" Ruby asked._

 _Destiny replied, "It's my semblance. I'm able to teleport but just so long as I see where I'm going, and it's only up to short distances."_

" _And... You're really able to calm Grimm?" Weiss asked curiously._

 _Destiny nodded her head and replied, "I can. But if there's too much anger in the Grimm or too many, I won't be able to do anything. But I don't just calm the Grimm, I can talk to them, and they actually listen to what I say. Sometimes though the larger ones like the Nevermore won't listen to me."_

" _That's… That's… Amazing!" Ruby couldn't help but say with a smile._

 _Destiny was stunned at this, "Huh?"_

 _Yang added, "Not only are you able to calm down a Grimm, but your able to talk to them too! It's like Ruby said, it's amazing!"_

 _Everyone else had agreed with them._

 _Destiny couldn't help but look at them dumbstruck; seeing the look on their faces, she saw they weren't afraid; not even a look of fear. "You… Your not freaked out by any of this?" Destiny asked them, "Not just one bit?"_

" _We're stunned, but we're not freaked out." Blake replied, "Besides, you saved our leaders life. If it hadn't been for you, she wouldn't be here."_

" _But I-" Destiny started to say, "But I'm a freak. A child of the Grimm. I'm like the black sheep in those fairytales."_

" _You think just because you were infected by some lady a long time ago, it doesn't make you any less different from us." Ruby said with a smile._

" _Yeah, you're not like all those bad people that you talked about." Pyrrha added, "It's like I said before, you're the most sweetest and kindest little girl that we've all come to know. And we know that you would never do anything to harm us."_

 _Destiny was at a loss of words at that point; never before in her life she saw such acceptance. Sure they're was her father and his partner Neo, but never strangers, never people like RWBY or JNPR. She felt tears come to her eyes; she couldn't help but cry, but this time it wasn't of sadness._

 _Team RWBY and JNPR however seemed to panic at this. "What's wrong why are you crying?" Weiss said._

" _Is it something we said?" Nora asked her worriedly._

 _Destiny shook her head. She looked up, and they saw she was smiling through her tears, "I'm so happy." She said through her tears, "I've never had friends like any of you before. I'm just so happy!"_

 _Destiny ended hugging Pyrrha, and she had managed to pull Ruby in for the hug despite her size; everyone was stunned by this. "You guys are the best friends anyone could ever had. I ever had."_

 _Everyone else joined in on the hug; pretty much they ended up making a sandwich out of her._

" _You guys will always be my friends won't you?" Destiny asked, "You'll never break apart right?"_

" _Of course we will and won't break apart." Ruby said, "We're a team. Teams always stay together and never break no matter what."_

 _Destiny sniffled and said, "Good. That's good. Never break apart."_

* * *

- _ **Present**_ -

Voices.

That was the first thing Destiny heard when she had started to come too.

At first when she had opened her eyes she was met with a bright light. That blurred her vision but only for a moment; she blinked a few times and her vision had finally became clear. She found herself in a room back at the dormitories; Pyrrha sat on the side of the bed. The rest of team JNPR appeared to by the door talking to someone.

"Pyra?" She groaned as she sat up from the bed.

Pyrrha turned and her eyes seemed to have brightened. "Destiny!" She said giving her a hug, "Oh thank God you're okay."

Pyrrha then turned her attention to her team and the people at the door, which was of course revealed to be team RWBY. "Hey you guys, Destiny is up."

Team JNPR and now team RWBY had entered the room; she saw that Yang appeared to be missing though.

"Hey Destiny." Jaune said, "How are you feeling?"

"Um…" Destiny said, rubbing her head, "My head still kind of hurts, but… Well I'm feeling a little better."

"Thank goodness." Ruby said releveled, "When Pyrrha told us what happened, we were really worried about you."

Destiny couldn't help but worry when she didn't see Yang anywhere. "Um… Where's Yang?"

Ruby, Weiss and Blake looked at each other for a moment before turning back to the little girl. "There… There was an accident during Yang's match with Mercury." Weiss said with a bit of hesitation, "And because of that… _**We were disqualified from the tournament**_."

Destiny couldn't help but gasp at this, "That's terrible! Is Yang okay?"

"Yang is fine." Ruby reassured her, "She just needs some time to herself that's all."

"Still…" Destiny said, "I'm really sorry that you got disqualified."

"It's alright, there's no need for you to apologies." Blake said, "We're just glad you weren't there, when the accident had happened."

Destiny thought herself, "Emerald… I wonder…" She mumbled.

"Huh? Did you say something?" Ren asked.

Destiny looked and quickly shook her head, "No, it's nothing. I was just… Thinking."

Pyrrha looked at Destiny with a bit of a questioning look.

" _ **Cristal. Is Destiny going to be alright?"**_

" _ **She's… She's gonna be just fine. It's just a bit of a side effect she get's at times."**_

" _ **Side effect? To what?"**_

" _ **I think it's best if she tells you when she wakes up, that is if she can remember."**_

Pyrrha sighed and said to the little one, "Now that I remember, I found you where the computers were. What were you doing back there?"

Destiny answered a bit hesitantly, "My friend told me to go there. She said she wanted me to look for something. And I think I found it."

"What did you find?" Ren asked her.

Destiny tried to recall what she had found, but for some strange reason, the image couldn't come to her head. "Uh-oh…" She said, "I-I can't remember. I think it must've slipped my mind when that headache came on."

"Well, you shouldn't stress yourself for trying to remember." Pyrrha said to her with a reassuring smile, "I'm sure it'll come back to you."

Destiny nodded her head, "Okay, I guess."

"How's Mercury doing by the way?" Jaune asked.

Ruby replied, "I heard that Mercury and his team rushed back to Haven to be with his family. So until they land, no one can really question about what happened."

Ren said to her, "If there's anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask."

Ruby looked down, "Alright… If that's the case…" She turned to Pyrrha, "Pyrrha?"

Pyrrha turned to Ruby, "You be sure to win the tournament for Beacon, okay?"

"It's what Yang would've wanted." Weiss said.

Pyrrha turned to the side; and Destiny saw a look on her face. She had a troubled look, the same look that her dad had whenever he looked threw what he had gotten in the mail box in the trash. She turned to team RWBY and gave their leader a fake smile like the one her father would give to her when he told her everything would be alright.

"I'll be sure to do my best." Pyrrha said.

"I'll be sure to watch tonight to see if your picked!" Ruby said.

Blake said to them, "I don't know about the rest of you, but I think I've had enough fighting for one year."

"Ditto." Weiss said, "Want to get some coffee?"

Blake smiled and replied, "Tea."

With that Weiss, and Blake left the dormitories.

Destiny got up from the bed and put on her eyepatch. She placed her bag on her back. "Can I go with you Ruby? I wanna win something for Yang to cheer her up."

"I think she would like that." Ruby said.

She took Ruby's hand and said to team JNPR, "I'll see you guys later okay?"

Team JNPR nodded, "See you later Dessie!" Nora said. With that, Ruby and Destiny left the dormitories hand in hand. After Jaune saw the two of them turn the corner he closed the door shut.

Pyrrha looked to the floor thinking about something. She thought back to the girl named Amber that she had seen down in the Vault below the school. She couldn't help but think about what Ozpin had talked about to her.

She felt scared, for the first time she was unsure of what to do. Should she consult her teammates for help like Cristal had suggested?

She was bought out of thought when Nora was suddenly in front of her; face to face.

" **YOU HEARD THE LADY!** " Nora exclaimed suddenly wearing workout clothing, " **NO MORE MOPING AROUND!** "

She started to jog in place and do push ups, and jumping jacks, all while saying, " **WE GOTTA GET YOUR BUTT INTO GEAR FOR THE BIG FIGHT! IT COULD BE TODAY! IT COULD BE TOMORROW!** "

All of a sudden she was lifting a weight that weighed 1000 pounds, " **IT COULD BE THE MOST IMPORTANT FIGHT OF YOUR LIFE!** " She shouted lifting the weight, but ultimately ended up falling over on her back.

"Um…" Pyrrha said, not really knowing what to say exactly.

"She's right." Ren said. Pyrrha turned and saw that Ren was wearing an apron that had said "Please do nothing to the cook." The apron was apparently pink.

"You can't let your concern for Yang hold you back." Ren said, "You need to focus. After all you'll be defending the honor of Beacon Academy."

"Of course." Pyrrha said, "I-"

She was suddenly cut off when Ren held a glass of something green in front of her. She could almost swear that it was bubbling a bit and smelled some kind of stench.

"This blend of herbs and vegetables with nutrients to your body's well being." Ren explained.

"Oh." Pyrrha said, "That's-"

"Please, there's no need to thank me." Ren said, with Pyrrha once again getting cut off.

"Thank you?" Nora said, looking at the drink with disgust, "Ugh, it looks like slime from a lake-bed!"

"Algae contains numerous spectacular properties." Ren said holding the drink to her, "See for yourself."

Nora took only one sip from the cup; but that was enough to make her go straight to the trash bin to basically spit everything back up. Pyrrha couldn't help but smile by her team wanting to help her.

" **WHAT IS WRONG WITH YOU!?** " Nora exclaimed turning to Ren. He looked at her with disbelief, "Me? You're the one that wasted perfectly good juice."

" **WE'RE SUPPOSED TO BE HELPING PYRRHA! NOT TRYING TO POISON HER!** "

"There was absolutely nothing wrong with that."

" **IF IT LOOKS THE SAME AS IT DOES COMING BACK UP THAN THERE IS SOMETHING WRONG!** "

Jaune looked to Pyrrha and saw that she had a troubled look on her face. Jaune went over and said to his team, "Hey. How about we just go get some fresh air?"

* * *

- _ **RWBY's Room**_ -

Yang sat in the bunk bed looking out the open window, still currently processing what had happened yesterday. She knew that Mercury had attacked her, she saw it with her own eyes. But why does everyone else say different about it? She was thankful that her team, and her friends had believed her story, but despite this she was still troubled by it. She was also thankful about one other thing, that Destiny didn't have to bear witness to it.

Yang played with her bracelet that was around her wrist as she saw JNPR making their way towards the fair grounds. It wasn't long before she realized that she wasn't the only one in the room anymore.

"Hey there firecracker." A familiar voice said.

She didn't have to turn around to know who it was.

"Hey Qrow…" She greeted not turning to him.

Qrow stood there leaning back on the wall for support with his arms across his chest. "... So, why did you do it?" Qrow asked her, referring to what had happened yesterday.

Yang turned to him and simply replied, "You know why I did it."

"All I know is that you attacked a helpless kid." Qrow said, "So either you're lying… Or your crazy."

"I'm _**NOT**_ lying." Yang said.

"Hm…" Qrow said, "Crazy… Got it." He pushed himself from the wall and placed his hands in his pockets.

"Who knows…" The young teen said, "Maybe I am."

"And here I thought you're dark haired friend was the emo one." Qrow said referring to Blake.

Just when he was about to leave Yang alone, he had stopped in his tracks when she suddenly said, " _ **I saw my mom.**_ "

Qrow turned to her, having a look of disbelief on his face.

"I was… In a lot of trouble." Yang explained, "Took a pretty hard hit. But when I came to the person that attacked me was gone. And I thought I saw… _**Her**_. Her sword. Like the one in you and dad's old picture."

"You're not crazy Yang." Qrow said, earning a look of disbelief on her face this time. Qrow turned back to her, "That was your mom alright. Let me guess, she didn't say a word did she?"

Yang raised her eyebrow, "How do you know that?"

"I don't see my sister often." Qrow said, "But she does try to keep in touch. Whenever it suits her. Reminds of your cousin Melody."

Yang couldn't really believe what she was hearing, "Wait a minute, you mean you actually talk to her!?" Yang exclaimed, "That was real!?"

"Yeah." Qrow said, "She found me. Had a tip from my most recent assignments, and wanted me to give you a message."

"Why didn't you tell me sooner!?" Yang said.

Qrow walked to the window, "I was trying to wait for the right time. And this sure ain't it. But I guess you deserve to know."

He looked to her, "She wanted me to tell you that she saved you once. But you shouldn't expect that kindness again."

He placed his hands on the window sill and looked at the view, "Raven's got an interesting way of looking at the world. One that I don't particularly agree with. _**And she's dangerous**_. But you're a tough egg kiddo. You shouldn't let this tournament thing get you had a slip up. Sometimes bad things just happen. I say it's time to move on."

"Move on to what?" Yang asked.

"Well, Raven let some info slip before she took off." Qrow said, "If you ever want to track her down… I think I may be able to help you out."

* * *

Pyrrha sat just outside of the building where the cafeteria was. She leaned against the wall of the giant window, feeling the breeze of the wind. A single leaf fell off from a tree near her hand. The leaf was of course of a brown color and Pyrrha couldn't help but think back to the Fall Maiden Amber. She was indeed conflicted. True that this choice was a matter of life and death, but she honestly she didn't know what to do.

Than she about what that girl, Cristal's advice.

" _ **I know it's not really my place, but if I can make a suggestion, you can look to a friend for help. Just get there opinion on it. You don't have to tell them or that person secret if you don't want to but just ask in a way you won't have to say a word about it.**_ "

Maybe Cristal was right. Maybe it was time to consult a friend about her little predicament.

As if she had spoken of the devil, Jaune was standing right in front of her with a cotton candy in his hand.

"Hey." He said, "It's no green goop, but I think it still might do some good."

"Um… Right." Pyrrha said taking the cotton candy from him, "Thank you Jaune."

Jaune saw she was troubled as she took a few small bites from the cotton candy. He turned over and saw Nora and Ren come just around the corner. Nora just happily skipping while, Ren held a bucket of popcorn, a cotton candy, a drink and a stuffed animal. Nora saw the look on Jaune's face and got the message; she turned and took Ren's arm taking him by surprise, "Come on Ren let's go back to the fair grounds! I'll win you another stuffed animal!" She said as her voice faded.

Jaune then took a seat just beside Pyrrha; bringing his knee close to him.

"You were the first person ever to believe in me." Jaune said getting Pyrrha's attention, "You know that right? Even when I told my parents I was going to Beacon, they told me not to worry if I ended up having to move back home. How depressing is that?"

Pyrrha said to him, "Jaune, I'm sure they didn't mean it like-" She gasped when she suddenly felt Jaune's hand on top of her's; She dropped her cotton candy.

"I guess…" Jaune started to say, "I guess what I'm trying to say is that… You've always been there for me. Even when I didn't deserve it. And I can tell that there's something on your mind… So… I dunno… How can I help?"

Pyrrha smiled and placed her head, on Jaune's shoulder, taking him by surprise. "You're already doing it." She said, closing her eyes. Jaune couldn't help but lean his head on top of hers and for awhile, they just enjoyed each other's company. All they did was listen to the winds gentle breeze, and hear the leaves rustle in the nearby trees.

Finally Pyrrha opened her eyes; She removed herself from Jaune's shoulder, and moved her hand, "Jaune… I don't know what I should do…"

"What do you mean?" Jaune asked.

She turned to him, "Do you believe in destiny?"

"Destiny?" Jaune said with confusion, thinking that she was talking about their little friend.

"No, I don't mean her." Pyrrha clarified, "I mean destiny in general."

"Oh… Well… I don't know. I guess it just depends on how you view it." Jaune replied.

Pyrrha let out a sigh, "When I think of destiny… I don't see it as a predetermined fate you can't escape. But rather… Some sort of a final goal. Something you work towards your entire life."

"Okay… Yeah. I can see that sure."

"Well… what would you do, if something came along that you never expected? Something that had the potential to stand between you and your destiny?"

Jaune seemed to be just a bit more confused.

"Like… What?" He asked.

Pyrrha seemed to have ignored that question, "Or what could you do if you could suddenly fulfill your destiny in an instant, _**but at the cost of who you were?**_ "

Jaune placed a hand on her shoulder, "Pyrrha, you're not making any sense."

Pyrrha stood up, and crossed her arms, "None of it makes sense!" She exclaimed, "This isn't how things were supposed to happen!"

Jaune stood and quickly apologized, "I'm-I'm sorry! Please! I'm just-I'm just trying to understand what's wrong."

Pyrrha didn't turn to him, but she replied, "I always thought that I've been destined to become a Huntress. To protect the world. But it's become increasingly clear to me that my feelings were right. But…"

Finally she turned to Jaune, "I don't know if I can do it."

"Of course you can." Jaune said, "The Pyrrha Nikos I know would never back out of a challenge. And if you really believe it's your destiny to save the world, than you can't let anything stand in your way."

Pyrrha gasped at the last thing that Jaune said. In all honesty she thought she would be happy to hear this from Jaune; so why did she feel tears well up in her eyes?

She placed her hands over her mouth and she had started to cry. Jaune was taken back by this. "Pyrrha?" He said with concern.

"Stop…" She said with a shaky voice.

Jaune reached out to her, "Did… Did I say something wrong?" He asked as he stammered.

" **STOP!** " Pyrrha exclaimed.

Suddenly without even thinking, Pyrrha had activated her semblance. Jaune felt himself being pushed to the wall making it crack since his armor was of metal. Pyrrha realized what she was doing, " **JAUNE!** " She exclaimed, pulling back her hand and looking horrified by what she had just did.

Jaune groaned and managed to stand himself up, he looked to Pyrrha, and saw more tears stream down her face. Her tears dripped to the ground like rain.

"I'm… I'm sorry…" She said tearfully.

Pyrrha turned around and ran.

" **PYRRHA! WAIT!** " Jaune called out desperately. It was no use however when he saw Pyrrha disappear.

Jaune looked to the floor with a saddened expression on his face, "... What did I say…?" Was the only thing he could ask himself.

In a tree nearby there sat the young girl Cristal who had watched and listened to the conversation that Pyrrha and Jaune had. Cristal felt sympathy for Pyrrha, as she couldn't imagine the situation she was going through. She looked to Jaune and sighed.

"You idiot…" Cristal said to herself, "You said what she wanted to hear… Just not in the way she was hoping…"

With a snap of her fingers, Cristal had suddenly vanished. Jaune picked up his head, when he heard the sudden sound of wind and leaves rustling in the trees just in front of him.

* * *

- _ **One Week Earlier**_ -

 _The week was almost over, and once again Destiny had the whole day with Pyrrha, since again, the rest of the team had to fix up the fair grounds. There was an accident at one of the stands, something about cabbages. Now Pyrrha and Destiny had decided to take a trip to the arcade. Destiny was currently playing a crane game. She was trying to get a teddy bear but ultimately couldn't get it. She couldn't help but pout when she missed for the third time in the row._

 _Pyrrha tried and was able to win it for her, and she couldn't help but feel delighted about it._

 _Afterwards they were sitting the local park eating a couple of snacks, which was but a simple donuts. Destiny ate her chocolate donut her face getting covered with the chocolate and sprinkles, Pyrrha couldn't help but chuckle and used a napkin to wipe her face._

" _Thank you for today Pyra!" Destiny said with a smile after Pyrrha removed her napkin from the girl's face, "I really had fun today."_

" _It's no problem at all. I'm glad you had a great time." Pyrrha said._

 _Destiny looked to many of the people making the final preparations for the Vytal Festival._

" _So I guess it's time then?" Destiny asked Pyrrha, "For the Vytal Festival I mean."_

" _Yeah, I guess so." Pyrrha said, taking another bite from her donut._

" _I'm scared." Destiny said to her with honesty, "Honestly I am. That lady… Her associates… When she talked about doing something awful… I just…"_

 _Pyrrha heard her mumble some words that she couldn't hear, as she played with her hair._

 _Pyrrha reassured her, "Destiny, I know your worried, and you have every right to be. But whatever the lady responsible for kidnapping you is planning… We'll be able to stop it."_

" _But, you guys don't even know what she's planning. What she wants to do… Can you really stop her?" Destiny asked curiously._

" _I don't know… But we'll find a way." Pyrrha said to her, "We always do."_

" _She could be dangerous though, and with the White Fang on her side…"_

" _We'll be prepared for them when the time comes, don't worry."_

 _Destiny nodded her head to Pyrrha, before looking to the Atlas Ships in the sky. She remembered, when she had told them about her father being Roman in one of the ships. It worried her, though part of her was relieved that he was safe._

" _So… My dad is really up there?" She had asked Pyrrha._

 _Pyrrha nodded her head in reply._

" _All that time when I was out in the streets. I was worried that something had happened to him. I guess, I'm glad knowing that he's safe up there, but at the same time I'm worried."_

 _Pyrrha raised her eyebrow at this._

" _If that person… Ironwood. If he ever found out about me, and the fact I'm infected by Grimm, do you think he'll believe my story about me being kidnapped?"_

" _You'll never know unless you try." Pyrrha said, "And if the others are willing we'll tell him together. Just not right now."_

 _Destiny's expression couldn't help but brighten, "I can't wait till I see him again. We can go back home together!"_

 _Pyrrha smiled when she saw the expression on Destiny's face, "Although he's going to get a lecture."_

 _Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh at this. "And I'm sure he would want to thank you guys too. For taking care of me all this time." Destiny added._

 _Pyrrha said, "Of course. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you."_

" _You really think so?"_

" _Yes. He is your father after all. He'll be more than happy to see you again."_

 _Destiny couldn't help but smile, and she looked back to the ships. "_ _ **Dad…**_ " _She thought in her head, "_ _ **Just you wait. We'll see each other again. I just hope it'll be soon.**_ "

* * *

 _-_ _ **Present; Beacon Courtyard**_ -

Ruby walked alongside Destiny. The child happily skipped with what appeared to be a stuffed animal of a dog which was a corgi, which she had won at one of the stands on the fairground for Yang. They had both gotten on the line to a ship that would take them to the coliseum. But it wasn't long till they noticed. She appeared to be taking pictures of students that had participated in the tournament as they passed by; one of them being Sun Wukong.

Ruby and Destiny went over to Velvet; The fanus noticed them. "Ruby, Destiny!" Velvet said, "How you doing?"

"Hello again!" Destiny said to Velvet.

"Hi there Velvet." Ruby said, "Whatcha ya up to?"

Velvet replied, "Oh you know, just working on my photography. Do you guys wanna see?"

Velvet show the pictures she had gotten to Destiny first. The child was left impressed, "Wow, that's amazing!"

"Thank you." Velvet said with a smile, before showing her photographs to Ruby.

Ruby looked at and saw that the picture was mostly focused on Sun's weapon. "That's… Better!" Ruby said awkwardly.

Velvet's expression seem to have soften a bit; she said to Ruby, "I'm sorry to hear about your sister. Is she doing okay?"

Ruby replied, "Yeah… She's fine, thanks."

Velvet put away her camera, "I think it's awful what people have been saying about her. Yang's such a nice person."

"I know right?" Destiny said, "People don't know Yang like we do." Destiny showed the stuffed animal to Velvet, "I won this for Yang to cheer her up."

"Aww." Velvet couldn't help but say, "That's really sweet of you Destiny. I'm sure Yang will love it."

"Thanks Velvet." Ruby said, "I'm glad someone else other than Destiny thinks so."

"Most people don't know what it's like on the battlefield." Velvet said, "I mean, even experienced fighters can get scared and start seeing things. _**If it happened to someone like Coco, than it can happen to anybody.**_ "

Ruby and Destiny both looked at her questioningly. "Wait… You mean the same thing happened to Coco?" Ruby asked.

"Yeah." Velvet replied, "She thought that she saw Yatsu with her in the forest during the fight with _**Emerald and Mercury**_ , but he never made it out of the geyser fields. Stress-induced hallucinations apparently."

Destiny gasped in realization, to why the names had sounded familiar. Ruby on the other hand looked away knowing very well this wasn't a coincidence. "Yeah…"

Ruby and Destiny were both startled by a flash. They saw Velvet had pulled out her camera again.

"Oh! Sorry!" Velvet said with an innocent smile.

* * *

- _ **Later at the Coliseum**_ -

Ruby and Destiny had entered the coliseum, and Destiny had explained what she was thinking to her.

"Mercury and Emerald? The lady's associates?" Ruby asked with a whisper, "Are you sure?"

Destiny nodded and whispered back, "I know it. What had happened to Coco, and Yang… It wasn't coincidence! I know because I felt it!"

"Felt it?" Ruby asked.

"I'm not sure why but… If someone poses a mind based semblance, I know when they use it when I feel a sudden ring in my head. Sometimes if they create a hallucination, I can see what the victim is seeing."

"So than… That headache you were feeling when Pyrrha found you." Ruby said, seeming to get it, "You mean you remembered?"

Destiny nodded her head in reply.

"Just a little bit. I think that lady wanted Emerald cheat. She wanted to get your team disqualified and out of the tournament. And I think the lady might've rigged the fights too!"

"But what good will that do? Emerald went with Mercury back to Haven since he was hurt."

"I don't know… But I have a feeling that whatever the lady is planning will happen soon."

Ruby thought about what she was saying and said to Destiny, "Okay, I believe you. Once this match is over we'll go see Ozpin about this. If anything, he'll know what to do."

Destiny nodded her head, and they went ahead to there seats. They sat in the front row. Ruby looked around the stadium. But then what she saw, she couldn't help but look stunned. They're just across in the distance she saw someone that shouldn't be there in the first place.

"Emerald?" She said in disbelief, "She's here?"

Destiny seemed to have heard her, "What? She's here?"

Ruby nodded her head, "I think you may be onto something. Go sit by Jaune, I'll go to Ozpin."

Destiny nodded her head, "Okay. Be careful."

Ruby nodded and got up as did Destiny. The child ran to where team JNPR sat, while Ruby quickly and subtly made her way out of the coliseum. She went through the exit and walked down the hall, realizing that she was the only one in the hall.

She heard the Oobleck announce, " _ **Ladies and gentlemen it's now time to begin the randomization progress for the match of the night!**_ "

Ruby was just about almost out, but then heard a door open in the distance. She stopped in her tracks, when she saw a familiar face step out of the room.

" _ **MERCURY**_?" Ruby said with eyes once again widened with disbelief.

Soon enough the match was set.

" _ **It looks like our next match will be Penny Polendina from Atlas vs. Pyrrha Nikos of Beacon!**_ "

( _ **Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4-I Will Performed By Sowelu**_ )


	12. Chapter 11: Treason and Plot

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

" _ **It looks like our next match will be Penny Polendina from Atlas vs Pyrrha Nikos of Beacon!**_ "

Pyrrha and Penny both stood on the opposite sides of the stage, prepared to face each other in this match. Penny looked excited to be there; almost jumping for joy. While Pyrrha on the other hand seemed to have her mind on something else.

"Salutations Pyrrha Nikos!" Penny greeted, her usual smile plastered on her face, "It's an honor to finally meet you!"

Pyrrha had said nothing to her; her mind still on something else entirely; Her head was feeling a bit fuzzy. As she looked at her hands. She could've sworn that her vision had blurred for only but a second.

"This is going to be so much fun!" Penny said, still excited to be there.

Cristal stood on the other side of stadium, just below where the stage was and underneath where Emerald had sat. "Something doesn't feel right about this." Cristal said to herself, "Why pair Pyrrha up with a girl like her? Do they know something that others don't?" She looked to Emerald, seeing her eyes focused on Pyrrha in particular.

Cristal couldn't but glare at her, "What the hell are you up too?"

* * *

- _ **Meanwhile**_ -

Ruby couldn't believe who was standing in front of her right now. Mercury. Mercury Black. How was he even standing on his own two feet? He was injured for God's sake! He shouldn't be able to walk!

"Mercury?" Ruby said, "What are you doing here? You were hurt! They said you were in Haven! Why-!?"

Ruby turned to the door that he came out of, and saw that it lead to the computer room. The very same room that Pyrrha had found Destiny in just yesterday. She eyed at him suspiciously.

"What were you doing in there?" Ruby asked him, almost demanding for an answer, "Did you do something?"

Mercury didn't answer her; all he did was stand there in silence with a smirk on his face. Ruby glared, "Fine. If you're not going to tell me than-"

Ruby stopped in mid-sentence; when she tried to walk away, Mercury blocked her path. It didn't matter if she had changed direction on where she walked, Mercury just kept on moving to where she was. Ruby bit her bottom lip, not sure how to get out of this exactly. She knew without her weapon, she couldn't fend herself if Mercury attacked. She could just use her semblance to get out, but she didn't know if she could since she saw how he fought.

They announcer just outside, " _ **Fighters! Are you ready to begin?**_ "

Ruby had a worried look on her face, " _ **I've gotta get out of here!**_ " Ruby thought, " _ **I've gotta stop that fight! I've gotta save Penny!**_ "

* * *

- _ **Outside-**_

Both Penny and Pyrrha stood in their fighting stance prepared to face one other in combat

Port began to countdown, " _ **3… 2… 1… BEGIN!**_ "

Penny had made her first move. All of her swords came out from her bag and with a simple movement, the swords circled and she had sent them flying in Pyrrha's direction. Pyrrha and jumped through the gap of the swords, blocking with sher shield. Her feet landed on the ground and ran towards Penny.

Despite this however the swords turned and flew back towards Pyrrha.

* * *

- _ **At That Moment**_ -

Ruby and Mercury heard the sounds of blades clashing with one another. "No…" Ruby said.

Mercury smirked and said, "Showtime."

Ruby tried to change direction again, attempting to run past him, but Mercury kept on moving to where she was. " _ **SCREW IT!**_ " Ruby thought in her head. She used her semblance, making herself into a drill. But that proved to be useless when she felt Mercury kick her right in the stomach. She fell to the floor. Ruby grabbed her scroll to get her weapon, but it was suddenly shot out of her hand. Her scroll was beyond repair.

"Let's just keep this between us _**friends**_." Mercury said tauntingly.

Mercury ran towards her. He attacked her head on, and Ruby tried to block his attacks but it proved to be futile. She had managed to duck and used her chance to use her semblance again. This time it proved to be successful. She darted ahead to the wall and landed on her feet. She than ran to where the door was while also avoiding Mercury.

" _ **PENNY!**_ " Ruby shouted in her thoughts, " _ **I'M COMING!**_ "

* * *

- _ **Back Outside**_ -

" _ **My word! What a tremendous display by Miss Poledina!**_ "

Penny and Pyrrha kept on attacking one another; with each attack they kept on blocking each other. Pyrrha was pushed back Penny, but she managed to stick to her footing. Pyrrha and jumped on top of the blade and attempted to attack Penny from above. Penny blocked her attack and back flipped to gain a distance from her, as Pyrrha landed on her feet. Penny charged and used her blades to attack; Pyrrha blocked every attack with her sword however Penny managed to push her back at a great distance.

Pyrrha armed herself with her shield.

Ren and Nora cheered from the sidelines while Jaune and Destiny both sat there in silence.

" **GOOOO PYRRHA!** " Nora cheered.

Destiny cringed when she felt a sudden ringing sound in her head; At the very same time Cristal had sensed something out of the ordinary.

"Oh no…" Destiny said.

"This presence…" Cristal said looking to Pyrrha, "But what's different?"

Pyrrha on the stage, looked to her hands and could've sworn that she saw her shield and sword bend due to her semblance, but when she blinked everything seemed to be normal. Pyrrha was soon bought out of thought when Penny used her blades again; they were flying towards her.

Acting fast, Pyrrha spun knocking some of the swords out of the air. Than she attacked Penny head on, catching her by surprise. She launched Penny into the air and continued attack despite Penny blocking her attack with her swords. She managed to knock Penny out of the air, and Penny landed on her feet. Her swords split into groups of three and they started to fire lasers at Pyrrha.

Pyrrha managed to dodge with ease. It wasn't long until the swords went to attack Pyrrha again; once again she managed to block and flipped as the swords attacked her at all sides, while the other swords fired shots at her. She landed on the ground and charged at Penny, catching her by surprise again. Penny flew back at a great distance, nearly falling off of the stage.

Pyrrha stood on her feet, but suddenly felt dizzy again. She almost stumbled but regained her footing. This time Pyrrha was caught by surprise when Penny charged at her, using her blades to rocket towards her. She jumped in the air and kicked Pyrrha this time sending her flying. She landed on her back and did a flip landing on her feet. She attempted to arm her gun but Penny's swords disarmed her before she had gotten the chance.

Pyrrha attempted to use her semblance to get them back, but once again, Penny's swords stopped her from doing so. Penny prepared to perform her final attack, but suddenly Pyrrha had started to look fearful.

The ringing sound continued in Destiny's head, and that's when she suddenly saw two different things. In reality Penny had only eight swords, but what Destiny saw as a split image was what appeared to be a million swords all directed at Pyrrha.

Cristal saw this two, as the images became a mix.

" _ **Pyrrha! No!**_ " Destiny exclaimed in her thoughts.

"Don't be fooled you idiot!" Cristal shouted, knowing well that she couldn't hear her, "It's not real!"

Pyrrha couldn't help but back up by the many blades she saw before her. She trembled and shake at the sight; she was afraid. She knew if she didn't do something, she would die.

Penny sent the blades flying at her.

Destiny from where she sat, with JNPR saw the truth, and knew what would happen. " **PYRA! DON'T!** " Destiny shouted desperately trying to stop what was going to happen.

Cristal saw this too and attempted to shout, despite Pyrrha having no chance of hearing her, " **YOU IDIOT! NOO! DON'T WHAT THEY WANT!** " She shouted.

But it was too late; Pyrrha once again activated her semblance and the sent the blades flying backwards, and that's when she saw the reality of it all. Penny actually felt the polarity from Pyrrha and felt the strings suddenly get tangled, and she felt herself being pushed back.

The strings wrapped around both of Penny's arms, and her torso and that's when it happened.

Due to how far the swords were pushed back, Penny literally broke in two. The crowd gasped with horror, and Pyrrha became paralyzed from shock. Electricity was heard as Penny became dismantled. All the swords fell to the ground and the final sword fell to the ground, stabbing a piece of Penny's clothing, while Penny herself fell backwards. Her pupils had dilated and Penny was no more; the stage lowered itself to the ground.

Destiny shook her head in disbelief, and that's when she heard voices in her head.

" _ **Fear… I smell fear… It's driving me mad… Kill… Kill… Kill them all!**_ "

"Oh no!" Destiny said, "The Grimm!"

Jaune, Ren and Nora looked to Destiny. The child turned to them, "It's the Grimm! They're going to come here!" She exclaimed.

Cristal clenched her fist, and couldn't help but growl, "This was your plan all along, take an innocent life to strike fear into the hearts of others." Cristal jumped to the row, but saw that Emerald was already gone.

Ruby ran through the door but stopped in her tracks when she saw what was on the screen. She fell to her knees and felt her eyes water up, "Penny…" She said sadly before thinking, " _ **I couldn't save you…**_ "

Ruby couldn't hold it back; she began to cry as her tears fell like rain. Mercury had caught up to her but saw that the damage had already. He left and let Ruby drown in her own tears.

Oobleck saw from where he sat that feed wasn't turned off. "Broadcast what are you doing!?" Oobleck said, "Kill the feed!"

" _ **Something's wrong**_!" The person in charge said, " _ **We don't have control of the camera's!**_ "

"What!?" Oobleck exclaimed, "How is that possible?!"

Just than behind them, and all over the stadium the screens turned red, and a black pawn symbol appeared.

The crowd went quiet when they saw this happen. Than, a woman's voice was heard.

* * *

" _ **This is not a tragedy. This was not an accident.**_ "

* * *

Destiny froze at the sound of the voice, Ren, Nora and Jaune noticed this. "Destiny what is it?" Jaune asked.

"It's her…" Destiny said her voice trembling a bit, "That's the woman that talked to my dad…"

Jaune, Ren and Nora gasped at this "But…" Jaune said with disbelief, "That's…". The woman continued to speak.

* * *

" _ **This is what happens when you hand over your trust. Your safety. Your children. To men who claim to be our guardians. But are in reality… Nothing more than men. Our Academies' headmasters wield more power than most armies, and one was audacious enough to control both.**_ "

* * *

Ironwood who sat in one of the seats, had a glare on his face. He stood up on his feet and left to go where Oobleck and Port were.

* * *

" _ **They cling to this power in the name of peace, and yet, what do we have here? One's nation attempt at a synthetic army, mercilessly torn apart by a star pupil. What would Atlas have for a soldier disguised as an innocent little girl? I don't think the Grimm can tell the difference. And what, I ask you, is Ozpin teaching his students? First a dismemberment and now this? Huntsmen and Huntresses should carry themselves with honor and mercy. Yet I have witnessed neither.**_ "

* * *

Blake and Weiss sat at one of the stands at the fairgrounds were listening to the broadcast. Both of them not believing the voice they hearing right now.

"Isn't that… _Cinder_?" Weiss said with disbelief.

"It can't be…" Blake said.

Cinder continued the broadcast.

* * *

" _ **Perhaps Ozpin as though defeating Atlas in the Tournament, would help people forget his colossal failure to protect Vale when the Grimm invaded it's streets. Or perhaps this was a message to the tyrannical dictator that has occupied an unsuspecting Kingdom with armed forces. Honestly? I haven't the slightest clue as to who is right and who is wrong. But what I do know is that existence of peace is fragile. And the leaders of our kingdoms conduct their business with iron gloves. As someone who hails from Mistral I can assure you; the situation there is… Equally undesirable. Our Kingdoms are at the brink of war, yet we the citizens are left in the dark.**_ "

* * *

Two Atlas soldiers stood just outside of the city, listening to the broadcast. Just than they heard grass rustling and turned around. Through the thick layer of fog, an army of Grimm had suddenly emerged from the forest.

They started to fire at them, but only took a few of them. More and more came and the others easily ran past them.

* * *

" _ **So I ask you… When the first shots are fired… Who do you think you can trust?**_ "

* * *

The broadcast came to an end, from all around the city, to Beacon and the coliseum.; all there was static. Oobleck immediately went to try and contact some help.

"The radio's are all jammed!" Oobleck said, "We can't get a message out!"

"Would someone please tell me what is happening!?" Port exclaimed.

The alarm suddenly started to go off all throughout the stadium..

" _ **Alert. Alert.**_ " A computer voice said, " _ **Incoming Grimm attack. Threat level nine. Please seek shelter in a calm and orderly manner**_."

Everyone began to panic and started to run as fast as they could out of the exit, not caring who was in the way or who they pushed. Ironwood's voice was soon heard over the speakers, " _ **Ladies and gentlemen please! There's no need to panic!**_ "

Just than a Nevermore landed right on top of the shield and started to peek at it, trying to break in.. The Nevermore let out a tremendous screech and everyone couldn't help but scream.

"An Nevermore!?" Sun exclaimed.

"How did it get passed the kingdom's defenses!?" Coco shouted.

"It wasn't alone…" Ren said.

Destiny stood there frozen. Her body trembled as she heard the voices from the Grimm echo in her head.

"This can't be happening…" Destiny said with panic in her voice going into a fetal position, "This can't be happening… Daddy… Daddy…"

* * *

- _ **Headmaster's Office**_ -

Ozpin watched as more and more Grimm flew towards the coliseum. Qrow and Glynda entered the his office.

"Oz!" Qrow said getting his attention.

"Get to the city!" Ozpin said to the two of them.

"But-"

" **NOW!** "

Glynda and Qrow both looked at each other before going out of the office to make there way to the city.

* * *

- _ **Coliseum**_ -

The Nevermore continued to try and break into the shield. Ironwood watched helplessly as this happen. Soon his scroll rang and saw that Ozpin was calling him. He immediately took the call.

"Ozpin!" He said, "The girl! I-I can explain!"

Ozpin stopped him; he said just one thing over the scroll.

" _ **You bought your army to my Kingdom James. Use it.**_ "

* * *

- _ **Atlas Ship; Blue Four**_ -

The Nevermores flew by the ships, but some had decided to attack them; most taking heavy damage. A crew inside one of the ships tried there best to keep them off, and keep things in check.

"Damnit!" The Captain said, before going to his scroll, "This is Blue Four. Blues Two and Three fall into defensive position!"

" _ **Roger, Blue Three in position!**_ " Another captain on the other line said.

The Captain didn't get an answer from Blue two however. "Blue two! What is your status!?" The Captain said.

* * *

- _ **Atlas Ship; Blue Two**_ -

" _ **Blue Two what is your status!? Someone answer me dammit!**_ "

The the crew of Blue Two were all dead, but only one person had remained standing, and that was a certain girl with brown and pink hair, with the odd eye color of brown and pink, like ice cream.

Neo walked to where the cells were with a parasol in one hand and a cane and hat in the other. She opened one of the cell doors, spinning the hat with the cane.

"Well…" A voice within the cell said, "It's about time."

One the outside, Blue Two turned facing towards the other ships. The ship had suddenly opened fire onto the other ships, causing them to crash into each other.

" _ **We're hit! What's going-!**_ " The comms were soon cut off the moment the ships clashed into each other.

Roman from the Blue Two ship couldn't help but laugh out loud, "Oh, it's so good to be back!" Roman said as he started to stare the ship.

* * *

- _ **Beacon Ship Docking**_ -

Ships started to appear and landed in the docking area. The ships opened and it was revealed to be the White Fang. Adam was among them. They jumped out of ships and Adam said to the White Fang, "Bring them to their knees!"

As the White Fang went to work the other ships opened and it was revealed to ursa and other kinds of Grimm.

The Ursa let out a tremendous roar.

 _ **(Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4-I Will Performed By Sowelu)**_


	13. Chapter 12: And So The Curtain Rises

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

Everyone ran through the fairgrounds as the Grimm attacked the stands and the people. Everyone ran for their lives avoiding being eaten as much as possible. Blake and Weiss stood just in the middle of all of it and couldn't believe the destruction in a manner of minutes as well as the amount of Grimm that was around.

"I don't believe this…" Weiss said.

Blake heard her scroll ring; she removed it from her pocket and saw Yang was calling. She took the call but put it on speaker.

"Yang, are you okay?" Blake asked with concern.

* * *

- _ **Dormitories**_ -

Yang quickly ran down the halls with Zwei close behind. She was currently talking to Blake via scroll.

"I'm fine!" She said as an answer to her question, "Are Ruby and Destiny with you? Ruby's not answering her scroll!"

" _ **No they aren't with us.**_ " Blake replied.

Yang stopped running, and couldn't help but worry. The only thing that was on her mind was the two of them. They both could be hurt or worse than that.

She heard Blake over her scroll say, " _ **Yang I'm sure they're fine! Ruby's our leader, she can take care of herself, and she won't let anything happen to Destiny!**_ "

Yang sighed and clenched her fist, "Alright." She said before she resumed running out of the dormitories

* * *

- _ **Fairgrounds**_ -

Blake and Weiss still stood in the middle of all of the chaos that was going on. Weiss looked around once more still having a look of disbelief on her face.

"This can't be happening…" Weiss said solemnly, "Penny…"

Blake's expression saddened when she thought of Penny as well. They still couldn't believe that something like that had happened to Penny. With all the Grimm and the chaos that had happened could this be Cinder's plan that Destiny was referring too the whole time?

Blake heard Yang say, " _ **I'm heading to the docks near the courtyard! The White Fang are realising Grimm into the school!**_ "

Blake's eyes widened at this, "The White Fang?! They're here!?"

Blake and Weiss started to hear static over the other line. " **YANG!** " Blake exclaimed.

She soon heard Yang's voice again to which she sigh with relief, " _ **I've gotta go! Be safe!**_ " Thus, Yang had disconnected.

"Blake?" Weiss said, "What are we going to do?"

Blake started to type in what appeared to be numbers. "We're going to the docks." She replied, " _ **And we're doing our job.**_ "

A thud sound was heard just nearby; they turned and saw that it was locker. It opened and Blake went to retrieve her weapons. Weiss nodded in agreement, and went to get her weapons via scroll.

* * *

- _ **Coliseum**_ -

" _ **Warning. Safety Barrier Failing. Warning. Safety Barrier Failing.**_ "

Ruby sat there frozen with shock after she witnessed the death of one of her closests friends. Everyone that ran out of the coliseum had barely noticed Ruby just sitting there. All throughout her thoughts she was just wishing that she didn't witness what she just saw. At the same time she was blaming herself for what happened.

"I couldn't save you…" Ruby mumbled aloud, "I couldn't save you…"

Ruby just ignored everything that was around her, and ignored the Nevermore currently trying to break into the coliseum. She just didn't have the strength to move, even after the coliseum was all emptied out. She just kept repeating the words, "I couldn't save you…" Over again and over again she kept repeating these words.

She wished it was all just a nightmare. She thought that any minute now she would just wake up and everything would be back to the way it was.

That's what she kept on wishing, what she kept on hoping. She wished-

" _ **Get up!**_ "

Ruby jumped at the sound of a voice unfamiliar to her; it appeared to have echoed. She looked around to see who was the one that called out to her, but was befuddled to find that no one was there.

"Wh...What…?" Ruby said, her voice still cracked from her crying.

The voice echoed again.

" _ **If you don't move now they're going to die! Get up and fight for those that are still standing!**_ "

Ruby still didn't know where the voice was coming from or who it was exactly. But soon discarded that thought when she realized who was still in the middle of the stage.

" **PYRRHA!** " She exclaimed. And with that she got up and ran.

Pyrrha stood there still paralyzed with shock by what she did. She took an innocent life; she couldn't believe she committed murder. She was so much in shock in fact that she didn't even realize that Jaune and Destiny were calling out to her.

" **PYRA! PYRA YOU HAVE TO RUN!"** Destiny shouted from where she stood.

" **PYRRHA! THAT THING IS GOING TO BREAK IN, YOU GOTTA MOVE NOW!"** Jaune shouted after Destiny.

Pyrrha didn't seem to have heard them; she still just stood there in shock. Destiny groaned and quickly snapped her fingers. With a sudden flash she was suddenly a few inches behind Pyrrha.

" **DESTINY!** " Ren exclaimed with worry, " **GET BACK HERE! IT'S NOT SAFE!** "

After regaining her footing she ran to Pyrrha. She grabbed her hand and attempted to pull her out of the stage. " **PYRA PLEASE!** " Destiny begged, " **WE HAVE TO RUN! PLEASE WAKE UP!"** Destiny tried her best to move Pyrrha but she didn't even budge.

The Nevermore soon flew up in the air and dove. Jaune without even thinking jumped over to the ground, away from the seats.

" **JAUNE!** " Nora exclaimed.

Jaune ran up on the stage, and ran towards Pyrrha and Destiny who was still trying to get her to move. " **PYRRHA! PLEASE SNAP OUT OF IT!"** Jaune shouted as he ran to them.

The Nevermore successfully broke through the shield, and landed right onto the stage. The impact caused, Pyrrha, Destiny and Jaune to fly backwards. Pyrrha landed on her back while Destiny landed on her side next to Pyrrha still holding her hand.

The Nevermore let out a tremendous caw, and Pyrrha who had finally realized that Destiny was beside her, put her arms around the child in a protective way. The Nevermore went to attack them both but was suddenly pushed back. Ruby had attacked the Nevermore, stabbing it in the stomach causing it to screech in pain. She jumped back and it was revealed that she used Penny's sword to attack the Nevermore.

"Ruby?" Pyrrha said.

"Ruby!" Destiny exclaimed with her expression brightened.

" **LEAVE THEM ALONE!"** Ruby yelled to the Nevermore, drawing Penny's sword. The Nevermore flew up into the air and circled around the stadium and then flew towards Ruby; attempting to attack her. Ruby stood in front of Pyrrha and Destiny, in a protective stance preparing herself for when the Nevermore charged at her.

As the Nevermore flew towards them, it was suddenly pinned down when lockers flew just right on top of it. He slid across the floor just stopping in front of Ruby.

Ruby, Pyrrha and Destiny were shocked to see that there were others that had armed themselves with their weapons. All of them were familiar faces, and previous opponents that Ruby fought with her team or when her team members fought against in the doubles rounds.

There was team SSSN, CVFY, and the rest of team JNPR. Along with those teams, there was team ARBN as well the two members from team FNKI, Flynt and Neon. Sun, the leader from ARBN named Arsain, Ren and Nora felt the Nevermore start to get up from the floor.

The rest of team ARBN with the names Bolin, Reese, and Nadir, along with Velvet, Fox, Flynt and Neon moved off of the Nevermore with a quick pace, while Sun, Arsain, Ren and Nora were still on the Nevermore's back. Ren ran with a quick pace and jumped and attacked the Nevermore's face hitting it's eye.

Arsain swung from the Nevermore's neck with the help of her rope, and swung to grab ahold of Yastu, while a team member by the name of Sage jumped high into the air. Nora ran along the Nevermore's back and jumped high; she armed herself with her hammer and slammed it right into the Nevermore's face. Arsain swung high into the air and threw Yastu towards the Nevermore. Both Yastu and Sage sliced the head off of the Nevermore. With the Nevermore dead, it had evaporated into dust.

Destiny ran over to Ruby and gave her a hug, and Ruby couldn't help but hug back.

"Thank God!" Destiny said, "You're okay!"

"I should be the one saying that to you." Ruby said, pushing herself out of the hug.

Ruby then turned over to Pyrrha; her eyes welled up with tears.

"Ruby, I…" Pyrrha choked, taking a moment to look at a piece of cloth from Penny's clothing, "I'm so sorry!"

Destiny looked over to Pyrrha as well with a look of sympathy on her face.

"Pyra…" Destiny said, before looking to Ruby a bit worried if she was mad at her.

"... Me too." Ruby said to her, "But it wasn't your fault."

Pyrrha was a bit shocked to hear this; she didn't blame her for what she did? Why? "She's right." Jaune said, walking over to her holding her weapons. "The one on the microphone. Cinder." Jaune said, "The one responsible for kidnapping Destiny. She's the one that did this. We just have to make sure that she doesn't hurt anyone, ever again."

Jaune held out her weapon and shield. Pyrrha stood up and took them without a second thought; She nodded to Jaune agreeing on what should be done. All of them had suddenly heard something roar just at the top of the coliseum. They all looked and saw that more of the Grimm which were Griffons were at the very top.

"Griffons." Ren said arming himself. One of the griffon roared to the people down below.

"Anybody have a plan of attack?" Neptune asked as he armed himself as well.

"Sun." Ruby said getting his attention, "I need your scroll."

Sun threw over his scroll to her with the help of his tail. Ruby caught it and with a press of a button her locker soon came crashing down. Ruby quickly ran to it but stopped in her tracks when a Grimm griffon landed right on top of it. Destiny quickly thought fast and ran in front of Ruby when it was about to attack.

"Don't!" Destiny said to the griffon moving away her eyepatch revealing her Grimm infected eye, "Please don't hurt her."

Everyone was pretty much shocked when they saw the Griffon actually listening to her. The Griffon flew away when it had suddenly been shot at; Destiny immediately put her eyepatch back in place. They turned and saw that it was Professor Port who had fired a shot.

"Students." He said, "I think it would best for you to leave."

"But we can-" Ruby said before getting cut off by Oobleck.

"Miss Rose." Oobleck said, "This day will surely go down in Remnant's history. I'd prefer it… If my students could live to tell about it."

Ruby nodded her head and grabbed her weapon; unsheathing it so that it could be a scythe.

"Let's go!" Ruby said to the group.

Immediately the group made there way out of the stadium; Velvet took a picture of Ruby's stance, before Coco called her name. Ruby turned to Destiny and held her hand out to her, "Let's get going." Ruby said.

Destiny nodded her head, and took Ruby's hand. With that they both ran with a quick pace out of the stadium.

Port laughed at the many Grimm circling them, " **ONE FINAL BET BARTY!** " He shouted, " **PLACE YOUR BETS!** "

The Grimm charged at them to attacked them, and they in-turn charged at the Grimm.

The group managed to make it outside where the ships were taking the students and other citizens of Vale and outside of the city to a safer location. They saw Ironwood getting about to get on one of the ships. The group caught up with the general before he could enter the ship.

"What's going on?" Ruby asked Ironwood.

Ironwood turned to the group, but was bit taken back when had noticed Destiny; She didn't hide behind Ruby but she did take a step back when she saw that he was looking at her. He took her eyes off of her and explained the situation.

"Grimm are crawling all over the city. The White Fang has invaded Beacon and to make matters worse, some- _ **Vagabond**_ has seized one of my ships. Until we regain command the skies are out of our control. So I'm-"

He stopped in mid-sentence to shoot at one of the Grimm that was about to pounce from behind. "Going to take it back." Ironwood finished. Ironwood turned to go into the ship, but stopped in his tracks when Jaune asked, "What should we do?"

Ironwood turned back to them, "You have two choices to make: Defend your Kingdom and your school… Or save yourselves."

Everyone seemed to have an unsure look at that.

"No one will fault you if you leave." Ironwood said to them. Ironwood turned to his men, "Let's move out!" With that he entered the ship, and flew away. Everyone had an unsure look on their faces, and turned to each other.

Sun broke the silence, "I mean, come on, how hard can it be?"

Jaune said to everyone, "We can take a ship to Beacon!"

The group moved, Ruby still held onto Destiny's hand. But as they moved to a ship, Destiny groaned, and just fell to her knees. That's when she heard a voice echo through her head.

" _ **... I can feel the fear… The grief… I can it fell it all… It drives me mad… I must spread the Grimm, to get it all to stop…**_ "

Destiny found herself gasping for air, as she found Ruby, Jaune, Ren and Nora towering over her, as the others waited for them in a distance.

"Destiny, are you okay?" Ruby asked with concern. Destiny didn't say anything she just ignored them and looked to where all the Grimm are originating from. "Destiny?" Jaune said, "What is it?"

"I can hear it…" Destiny whispered.

"What?" Nora asked.

"In the mountain." She clarified, "It's going to come here."

"What is?" Ren questioned, "What's going to come here?"

Destiny just said, "Something big… Bigger than any of the other Grimm that you've seen before."

Destiny stood up from the floor. "I have to go." Destiny said suddenly.

The five of them gasped at this. "Go? Where?" Ruby asked her.

"To the mountain, before it comes here!" Destiny said, "I'm the only that's able to calm a Grimm down, so I think I might be able to calm it down, like I did with the Ursa before."

Pyrrha said to her, "Than we'll go with you."

Destiny shook her head at this, "You need to stay here, and help them defend this place, this Kingdom."

Ruby said to her, "You can't go alone Destiny! You'll get hurt!"

Nora agreed, "Yeah, what about your dad? Won't he be upset if he found out if you got hurt? Don't you wanna see him?"

Destiny looked down to her feet, but soon said to them, "As much as my dad means to me, the lives of others is more important than that. If it comes here than it'll be the end for Vale and for Beacon. I don't want that to happen! Besides… This is my way of repaying you guys."

The five of them looked at her with a bit of confusion.

"I did mention it to you before didn't I?" Destiny said, "I don't really have a lot of friends, because others said that I was different and strange. Even though it was just me, my dad, and his partner, and my best friend, I didn't really have anyone else outside of them. No one really understood me… And judged me because they heard my dad is a criminal. But not you guys. Even when I told you who he is, and my secret… You didn't hate me and you didn't hate my dad for what he was doing for me, you accepted it. And I'm happy about that."

At this point Destiny began to tear up by her own words. She continued choking through her sobs, "The three weeks you all took care of me; they were the best three weeks I could've asked for. I actually had fun, and that's something I didn't have for a long time, not since I was taken away from my dad. And the best part is… Despite me being sick… You didn't treat me like I was some broken kid. You treated me as if I as if there was nothing wrong with me; you treated me like I was normal. So please… Let me do this for all of you. I want to repay for what you all did for me, and this is the only way I know how."

The five of them looked at one another; they turned back Destiny.

"Are you sure you don't any of us to come with you?" Ren asked her.

Destiny wiped away her tears and replied, "I survived out in the streets for one whole month, I'll be to-No, I'm the only one who can. Ruby… Will you do me just two favors?"

Ruby looked at her with a confused expression, "Of course." Ruby replied.

"First off…" Destiny said, before handing her the plushie that she had won earlier that day, "When you find Yang, be sure to give this to her; tell her I'm sorry I couldn't give it to her in person."

Ruby nodded and took the plushie, placing it on her belt. "What's the second favor?" Ruby asked her.

Destiny turned her attention to the only ship of the only Atlas ship in the sky, "When you get to him… You'll convince my dad to help. Tell him everything about what you did for me, and I'm sure he'll go against that lady called Cinder."

Ruby's eyes widened; she had a look of uncertainty on her face, "But… Roman… What if he doesn't believe me? What should I do than?"

Destiny removed her bag and then opened her small pouch, and got out but a single picture and handed it to Ruby.

"Than make him believe you." Destiny said. Ruby looked at the photo and saw that it was-

"The picture of your mom?" Ruby said, "But… Are you sure?"

"Yes." The little girl replied, "This is the only photo of my mom as a teenager that my dad couldn't bear to put away. When he sees this, then he'll know that you're telling the truth. Take it for me Ruby."

Ruby gulped and nodded her head. She took the photo from her hand and placed it in her pocket making sure it wouldn't slip.

It didn't take long for Jaune to realize something, "How are you going to get to the mountain from here?" He asked her, "If what you're saying is true than you'll never make it in time!"

"Don't worry." Destiny said, "I'll have help."

They were confused by what she meant, until she whistled. They were taken back by a fact that one of the Grimm Griffons had suddenly flew down and landed just in front of them. The whole group behind them watched and was astonished by what just happened. The Griffon let out a screech but when Destiny removed her eye patch, it had immediately stopped. The group behind them at this point had there jaws wide open when they saw the Griffon nuzzle her face.

"Good boy." Destiny said, petting the Griffon, "Listen, I need you to take me to the mountain in the ruin city, as fast as you can. Can you do that for me?"

The Griffon understood her words; he kneeled so that he was laying on his stomach, allowing her to climb on. Ruby of course helped her climb on top of the Griffon when she saw she was having difficulty; The Griffon stood on all four of his legs, but before he along with the little girl could fly away-

"Wait!" Ruby said, the Griffon stopped in his tracks. Destiny turned to them, looking at them with a confused look.

"I think you have to promise us something now." Ruby said. Destiny couldn't help but give a quizzical look.

Ruby said with a smile, "Promise us you'll come back. Not just for us, but for your dad too."

Destiny's eyes widened at this and she looked to the members of team JNPR. "You come back no matter what." Jaune said, "Just make sure you come back in piece."

Pyrrha said, "Out of all of us here, you're the bravest little girl that we've ever come to known. This will be a one of a kind story to tell your dad. But we all prefer it, if you could live to tell about it."

"We'll be here, defending this place, for as long as we can. Just know that you'll want to come back when the dust settles." Ren said.

"Because you'll want to be here for the celebration!" Nora said with a smile.

Destiny couldn't help but smile; Her eyes began to tear up again, "You guys really are the best friends anyone could ever have." She wiped away her tears, "I'll come back. You guys can count on it."

She tapped on the Griffon, signaling for him to go. With that, the Griffon ran over the edge and spread his wings and with that he flew high into the sky, as fast as he could, and they both disappeared into the distance.

It wasn't long till Sun exclaim, "Okay, I'm officially lost now! Did Blake's cousin really just pet a Grimm without her hand getting eaten off!?"

Ruby and team JNPR turned over to him. They joined the group and Ruby reassured him, "We'll explain later! For now we gotta get to Beacon!"

The whole group nodded their heads and they entered one of the ships.

* * *

- _ **Atlas Ship Blue Two**_ -

Roman was looking around the command hub, pretty much messing around with the controls since he never actually been in a ship like an Atlas Ship. Though deep in his thoughts he knew he wasn't there just to get payback at Atlas for not being there to help defend the Grimm when his town was invaded by them, he was there for the sake of his daughter's life. After the death of his wife, his one and only love, Trinity, his only child, Destiny was the only thing he had left in the world filled with nothing but pain and misery; the only light in his life.

If anything were to happen to her, if his daughter was taken away from him permanently… He would never forgive himself if that were to happen. All of this was done just for her sake; sure he didn't really like it, but he had to do it to keep her safe. Because that's what parents do right? Protect their children.

"Hmm… Let's see." Roman said before going to push one of the buttons, "What does this one do?"

As soon as he pressed the button, a rumble sound was heard outside.

"Oh what fun!" He couldn't help but say gleefully. He turned back to the controls, "Let's see… How about this one?"

He pushed another button, and put his hand to his ear to listen for any kind of sound at all. Yet he failed to notice that some Atlesian Knights fall from the sky just outside of the window. He sighed, "Okay, that apparently does nothing."

"Alright, all done." Neo said, finished working on Roman's scroll, "I got the program we need on here."

"Good, give it to me." Roman said.

Neo handed him his scroll, and Roman gladly took it. "This will do it than?" Roman asked her to be sure. Neo nodded but gave a look of uncertainty.

"What is it?" Roman asked her.

"You know she's playing you for a fool right?" Neo asked, "Even after I told you that Destiny escaped and that Cinder's been keeping an eye on her, basically on a leash, there's no guarantee that she'll keep her word."

"I know Neo." Roman replied, "But what choice do I have? We've already come this far, and I have this one final chance."

Neo sighed, "Right. I know. Let's just get this over with."

Roman turned and placed his scroll in the slot; all of the screens turned red, and a black pawn symbol appeared.

"Now this one…" Roman said, "... _**This one is going to be fun**_."

* * *

 _ **-City of Vale-**_

The Atlesian Knights fired upon the incoming Grimm. Not too far behind them, Glynda and Qrow fought against the beowolves and such that were coming their way. They killed each one that had attempted to attack them.

They both turned around when the Atlesian Knights had suddenly stopped in their tracks. The Atlassian Knights turned around and aimed them; they're faces lit up red.

" **WHAT?!** " Glynda exclaimed.

Glynda and Qrow took cover, when the Knights started to fire at them

* * *

 _ **-Beacon; Courtyard-**_

Blake and Weiss ran through the courtyard, helping anyone they saw along the way. Soon enough from a distance they had found six Knights firing at the Grimm. Though suddenly they turned around and aimed right at them.

" **LOOK OUT!** " Blake exclaimed, pushing Weiss over on her side.

As soon as both of the girls hit the ground, they began to fire. Luckily the Knights had missed them. When they both stood on their feet, the Knights had surrounded them; still having their guns armed.

Blake and Weiss drew their weapons, and prepared to fight them.

* * *

 _ **-Up in the Sky**_ -

Destiny was in reach of Mountain Glenn, the Griffon flying as fast as his wings could carry. Destiny did not realize however that a ship was following close behind. Soon she had realized that the ship was following them when it flew by their side.

"Huh?"

The ship had opened and it was revealed to the Atlesian Knights, they're screen was in red. The black pawn symbol appeared in the middle of their faces.

"The Pawn Symbol!" The little girl exclaimed, "The one I saw before!"

Destiny's widened, when they started to fire. She screamed when they were knocked out of the sky. Her and the Griffon both fell into the trees near the very top of the mountain.

* * *

- _ **At That Moment**_ -

Ironwood drove straight towards his ship, prepared to take it back, when he had arrived. What he didn't know was that the Atlesian Knights had suddenly turned red. They turned around and aimed for him.

Ironwood noticed this, but it was too late.

" **NO!** " He exclaimed

From another ship, where Ruby and the others were going to Beacon, they saw an explosion on the very ship that Ironwood had boarded. They all watched as it crashed to the city down below.

Ruby had planned to find a way to get to the ship Roman was on for when she took back Beacon with her friends, but she had to act now. She thought fast and quickly went to exit the ship despite it still being in the air.

" **RUBY!** " Sun exclaimed, " **WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?** "

Ruby ignored as her friends shouting for her. Ruby had gotten outside and jumped from the ship; She used her semblance to rocket back onto the coliseum platform. She ran back inside the stadium to where most of the lockers had landed, and typed in a six digit code. Unsheathing her scythe, she latched onto the locker and held on tight as the locker rocketed up into the sky.

The locker headed straight for the very ship that Roman was on. She jumped and rolled as she landed on the ground.

Inside the ship Roman and Neo heard a thud sound coming from outside of the ship.

Roman let out a growl. "Go see what that is."

Neo nodded and proceeded to head outside.

Roman cracked his neck. "I've come too far now…" He said to himself, "I can't let anything stand in my way."

* * *

- _ **Meanwhile; Mountain Glenn**_ -

Destiny groaned as she felt something nuzzle her face. She struggled to open her eyes, and she saw that it was the Grimm Griffon standing over her; Destiny patted the Griffon on the beak. She sat up, as she groaned, and she saw that her bag was soaked.

She looked inside and saw that her there was a leak.

"My medicine… It must've been damage when we fell." Destiny said.

Destiny looked to the sky, and saw that the Atlas ship was nowhere to be seen.

"Did they leave already?" She asked herself.

"Looks that way to me."

Destiny was startled when she heard a voice come over her. She turned and saw that it was-

"Cristal!" She exclaimed.

Cristal went over to her, placing her hand on the Griffon's beak and he leaned in for her touch surprisingly. Cristal then went to hug the little girl and Destiny hugged back. She broke out of the hug, "You followed me here?" Destiny asked.

"Of course I did. Why wouldn't I?" Cristal said, "Are you alright? I mean you did take a nasty fall there."

Destiny nodded her head, "I'm fine. I guess the trees broke our fall."

Her eyes widened in realization, "The Grimm! Did it-!"

Cristal replied, "Well the mountain's still here in one piece, so I'm assuming it didn't emerge yet."

Just as she said that, they felt the ground shake, causing the Griffon to screech.

"Though I may be speaking too soon." Cristal said.

"We're running out of time." Destiny said. She grabbed her bag, and removed the remaining three pictures from her pouch, before going to remove her IV from her chest. Cristal placed her hand over hers to stop her.

"You sure, you wanna do that?" Cristal asked her, "You won't be able to walk."

Destiny replied, with a bit of hesitation, "I'll end up running out of it anyway. It'll just end up slowing me down."

Cristal couldn't help but chuckle, "You sound just like your old man you know that?"

Destiny smiled slightly, before ripping the needle from her chest; she cried out in agony when removed swiftly. Cristal held her as Destiny shook with the agony.

"Easy now." Cristal said as she brushed her hair, "Easy. Take deep breaths. It'll pass." Cristal picked her up off the ground.

"Cristal?" Destiny said with confusion.

"No time to make an argument about this." Cristal said as she started to walk, "Besides you won't make it on your own two feet due to the pain that'll kick in about 10 minutes. So I'm carrying you up there."

Destiny smiled, placed her head on her shoulder, "Thank you." She said, as Cristal ascended further up into the mountain with the Griffon following behind them.

All Cristal had said as her way of saying "You're welcome", "Just so we're clear… You owe me for this."

* * *

- _ **Beacon Courtyard**_ -

The Atlesian Knights fired Weiss. Weiss countered by slicing and dicing the Knights through the Knights one by one. She dashed through the army of Knights and they had ultimately suffered the same fate as the others. She flew off from one of them, flying over to where Blake was.

Blake was fending herself off from a group of the White Fang and had sent them flying through the air. When they tried to attack, Blake used her semblance which proved to be useful for when she dodged the attacks.

Just as the White Fang had gained up on her, Weiss had appeared right in front of them and pushed them back, sending them flying into the trees and bushes nearby. Both Weiss and Blake stood back to back.

They soon saw that some of the Atlas soldiers were getting beaten back by an Atlesian Paladin; it smacked away the Atlas soldiers that were fighting back.

"Come on!" Weiss said, "We've gotta help them!"

Just when they were about too, they heard screaming and saw a ship crash landing. An Alpha Beowulf, jumped out before it hit the ground. Everyone started to run away from the Alpha while others ran from the Paladin.

Blake and Weiss knew there was only one thing to do.

"Be safe." Weiss said before running in the direction of the Paladin, while Blake went after the Alpha.

Blake caught up to the Alpha where the cafeteria was. The Alpha climbed up the wall and let out a howl. Just when Blake was about to attack it, she heard screaming and turned her attention inside. Her eyes widen in horror when she saw a familiar face take out an Atlas soldier.

"No…" She said, "... Adam…?"

Adam turned to her and smirked.

"Hello my darling."

* * *

- _ **At That Moment**_ -

Destiny and Cristal made it to the top of the mountain. Cristal placed Destiny in the middle of the floor where the head was located.

"You sure your up for this Princess?" Cristal asked with concern, "You do realize that you never calmed a Grimm of this kind of _**size**_ before. If something goes wrong… I don't know if I can save you."

"It'll be fine." Destiny reassured her, "I'm sure of it."

"Okay." She said. She took the pictures from Destiny's hand, "I think I'll hold onto these. For safe keeping alright."

Cristal stood and gave her space, "I'll leave you to it than. _**As always…**_ I'll be right here."

Destiny nodded and turned her attention to the matter at hand. She placed her hands on the ground, and she felt the Grimm underneath.

"I can feel it." Destiny said, "I can feel your anger… It's hurting you isn't? Don't worry… The pain will be gone soon."

A small circle appeared just below her hands; from the looks of it, it had appeared to be a white eye. Eventually the white eye had appeared to just around the surrounding area, almost touching where Cristal and the Griffon had stood.

The ground started to shake less now. Cristal looked over to Destiny, and saw her whole body start to shake. "Come on princess…" Cristal said, "You can do this. Focus and concentrate. Don't let anything else stop you."

Every second the amounts of shaking kept on decreasing indicating that Destiny was close to calming down the Grimm within the mountain. Destiny was taking deep breaths and kept herself from passing out from exhaustion.

"... Everything will be just fine…" Destiny said, "... Just let go of the anger…"

Destiny kept on talking to the Grimm that lay deep within the mountain. It seemed to be working and as the shaking began to disappear-

 **BANG!**

Destiny felt something pierce her side, and Cristal jumped at the sound, while Griffon let out a screech; the white eyes had suddenly vanished and the ground shook violently. Destiny coughed out some blood and fell on her side; she was groaning and gasping for air.

"No…" Cristal said, her eyes widened. She turned and saw that it was an Atlesian Knight with it's screen shined red.

" **YOU BASTARD!** " Cristal shouted, charging at the Knight.

Ultimately she ended up destroying the Knight out of rage. Cristal caught her breath, but then soon came to realize that the whole ground had begun to light up with red. A red eye suddenly appeared just around Destiny's body; her body had also lit up with red.

Suddenly she began to sink into the ground.

" **DESTINY!** " Cristal exclaimed, " **NOO!** "

Cristal attempted to run towards Destiny, but suddenly hit what appeared to be a wall.

" _ **What?!**_ " Cristal thought in her head, " _ **A barrier?!**_ _**Destiny, is she doing this unintentionally!?**_ "

Destiny tried to move but was in so much pain that she couldn't. As she began to sink further into the ground, her whole world suddenly faded to black. The very last thing she saw was Cristal desperately trying to break through the invisible wall calling out her name.

" _ **Daddy… Everyone… I'm sorry…**_ "

The ground all around the mountain and land began to shake more violently than before. It wasn't long before the mountain floor began to crack.

* * *

- _ **Beacon**_ -

Cinder stood atop of the building rooftops, with Mercury and Emerald beside her. They watched as the students from Beacon and the other students fighting against the Grimm and the Knights. She watched as everyone ran for their lives, and everyone getting shot and or killed by the Knights.

Cinder smiled at all of this, "Beautiful." She said.

Emerald looked around the destruction, her eyes appeared to be saddened, "It's almost sad." Emerald said.

"It's horrendous." Cinder said, turning to Mercury who was recording, "Focus on the Atlesian Knights."

Mercury replied, with a smirk on his face, "Oh, I'm getting all of it."

"Good." She said, "Continue the broadcast until the end."

The three of them stumbled when they felt the whole ground start to shake. Cinder's grin seemed to have grown wider.

" _ **And do not miss what happens next…**_ " Cinder said to them, before taking her leave.

* * *

- _ **Headmaster's Office**_ -

Ozpin sat in his seat watching all the destruction via television. Everything was in one giant mess; the Atlas soldiers were getting over run by a Death Stalker, and many of the Vale citizens sat upon the rooftops desperately waving for help. Ozpin knew there was one thing to do. He grabbed his cane and proceeded to walk out of the office.

But he had suddenly stopped in his tracks when he felt the ground shake. He turned his attention to the window.

* * *

- ** _City of_** _**Vale**_ _-_

Glynda and Qrow had continued to fend themselves off from the Grimm and the Knights, but had suddenly stumbled when they felt the whole ground shake; the almost fell over.

Glynda seemed to have a good idea to what it was.

"No…"

* * *

- _ **Mountain Glenn**_ -

Cristal had tried desperately, to dig into the ground, after Destiny had sunk right into the ground completely. She kept on trying despite the amount of cuts she had gotten on fingers and dirt in her nails.

" **DAMN IT DESTINY! DON'T YOU DARE DO THIS!** " Cristal shouted, " **DON'T YOU DARE!** " Finally she saw the cracks form onto the ground. The rocks quite literally popped up from the ground.

"No…" Cristal said before running over to the edge, "No, no, no, no, no, no, no!"

She looked over and saw that a giant claw hand had popped out of the mountain, followed by another causing everything to fall out of balance.

"Crap!" Cristal exclaimed, "Time to go!"

Cristal had whistled and the Griffon came running beside her. She jumped off the ledge and landed on the Griffon's back and thus they flew to the sky gaining a distance from the mountain. Suddenly half of the mountain had exploded; the debris fell in the ruined city. Out from the mountain emerged a Grimm type Dragon. It let out a loud piercing roar, before flying away. Cristal saw Destiny right in the middle of it's head; she was covered in what appeared to be black goop, and her eyes closed shut. She showed no signs of movement.

The dragon made it's way towards Beacon.

"Damn it!" Cristal said, "This is exactly what I was worried what would happen!"

She than said to the Griffon, "Follow that dragon!"

The Griffon listened to Cristal and followed the Dragon to city, and soon a hoard of Nevermore's and more Griffon's followed behind the Dragon. As the Dragon flew, it's eyes suddenly turned a lightish green, and it's body began to drip more of the black goop. But as soon as it landed on the ground, Ursa, Beowolves and other creatures of Grimm began to form.

The Dragon had reached the Beacon academy and circled around the area, manifesting more and more Grimm. The students their had prepared to defend what remains of their school; each of them side by side by one another, with weapons armed and ready to take out the Grimm and the Atlas machine.

Pyrrha on the other hand, soon spotted Ozpin at the doors of the Headmaster's Building. Seeing the look in his eyes, she knew what she had to do. She walked over to where Ozpin had stood.

"Where is she going?" Nora asked.

Jaune said to the two of them, "I'll go find out! You two, stay here and keep fighting!"

Jaune went after Pyrrha inside the building with Ozpin.

Cinder stood in one of the far out buildings, and despite the distance, she watched as the three of them, disappeared within the building.

 _ **(Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4-I Will Performed By Sowelu)**_


	14. Chapter 13: The Hero of the Story

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

- _ **A Few Days Earlier**_ -

 _Weiss was currently with her eldest sister, just talking and mostly catching up on a few things. Though Weiss admitted to Winter that was still having some trouble with her_ _ **summoning**_ _; Despite the fact that her family's has been able to perform it for as long as anyone could remember. Weiss was now trying to practice the summoning as her sister stood behind her, watching her as tried her best._

" _Excellent form." Winter said, "Now think to your fallen foes! The ones that force you to push yourself past who you were, and become who you are now. Think of them, and watch as they come to your side."_

 _Weiss kept on focusing and focusing, but she gritted her teeth, when she couldn't get it right. She stomped on the floor and the circle disappeared, "I can't!" She felt Winter's hand slap just behind head._

" _Stop doubting yourself!" Winter said._

" _But I'm trying!" Weiss replied._

" _If this is what you call 'trying', than you have no hope in winning the tournament, let alone succeeding as a Huntress. Why don't you just move back home? I'm sure father will give you a nice job as a receptionist!"_

 _Weiss turned away from her sister, "I don't need his_ _ **charity**_ _."_

 _Winter leaned forward, "... But you_ _ **do**_ _need his money, don't you?"_

 _Weiss's eyes widened in shock, "What!?" She exclaimed, "How did you know about that!?"_

" _Lucky guess." Winter replied, "I may have been in a similar situation when I joined the military. So pray tell… What did you do this time?"_

 _Weiss replied, "Well, that's just it… I'm not really sure. I went to pay for lunch the other day, but my card didn't work. It just said, declined."_

" _How embarrassing." Winter said with sarcasm._

" _I know!" She said._

 _All Winter did was shake her head. "Well it was." Weiss said, "Why would he cut me off like that?"_

" _Perhaps so that you would stop avoiding him and call home." Winter suggested._

 _All this did was make Weiss boil with anger. She turned tried to perform her summoning again. Winter placed her hand on her shoulder, "Emotions can grant you strength, but you must never let them overpower you."_

 _The summoning circle disappeared, and Weiss turned to her sister._

" _What do you suggest what I do?" Weiss asked._

 _Winter had replied, "The way I see it, you have two choices right in front of you. You can either, call father, and beg for him to give you his money back, and explain to him once again why you want to study Beacon over Atlas. Or… You could explore Remnant. Discover more about the world and honestly…_ _ **More about yourself**_ _."_

 _Weiss looked down on her feet, and thought about what she was saying exactly. Though the two choices, she thought as about the two choices. She admitted, that it was, tough, but she had a pretty good idea of what she wanted to choose._

 _Winter looked at her watch. "Well, it's time for me to go." Winter said, before giving her a hug. Weiss hugged her back._

" _It was really great seeing you Winter." Weiss said to her with a smile._

 _Winter smiled back, "Until next time little sister."_

 _Thus they both walked their separate ways. What they failed to noticed was that a small sword had just laid on the floor from where Weiss had created the summoning circle. The sword had vanished without a trace._

* * *

 _-_ _ **Present; Atlas Ship, Blue Two**_ -

Ruby stood on top of one of the only Atlas Ships still flying around through the air. With her scythe in hand, she had tried to find a way inside the ship. It wasn't long until she heard a loud piercing roar, throughout the sky. She turned and saw that it was, what appeared to be a Grimm Dragon, flying through the air. She saw that behind the Dragon was a horde of Nevermore's and Griffon's.

But, as it flew by Ruby, she saw that in the middle of his head; appeared to be a person, covered in black goop. When Ruby took a closer look, and saw that familiar magenta hair color, just as the Dragon flew away.

"Destiny…?" Ruby said, her eyes soon widened in realization, "Oh no…"

Soon enough the whole ship was in the middle of the horde of the Nevermore's and Griffon's. One of the Griffon's flew downward and Ruby quickly moved out of the way before it could land on top of her.

The Griffon roared and went to attack her. Ruby quickly attacked the Griffon with her scythe and she went to slice and dice it as the Griffon charged at her. She caught her breath, and the Griffon fell on it's side dead as a doornail before it evaporated into dust.

It wasn't long before Ruby realized that someone was behind her. She turned and saw that it was Neo in Atlas uniform; but the clothing soon changed into her regular outfit. She had her scroll in her hand and there was a flash. She lowered the scroll and smiled at Ruby, before winking at her.

Inside the ship, Roman heard a ping from his scroll. He looked and saw that he had gotten a photo, but it was revealed to be a face that he thought he would never see again.

"Oh, you cannot be serious!" Roman groaned with annoyance. Roman removed his scroll from the slot and proceeded outside.

* * *

- _ **Beacon; Cafeteria**_ -

Blake couldn't help but back up from where she stood, after seeing Adam just standing there looking at her.

"Running away again?" Adam asked her, causing Blake to stop in her tracks, "Is that what you've become my love? A coward?"

"Why!?" Blake exclaimed, "Why are you doing this?! Why kidnap Roman's daughter!?"

"You and I were going to change the world remember!?" Adam shouted, "We were destined to light the fires of revolution!"

Adam placed his foot on top of an Atlas student. He drew his blade, "Consider _**this**_ the spark." Just when he was about to kill the student before him, he was suddenly pushed back. Blake was in front of him, with her blade drawn and her sword had clashed with his.

"I'm _**NOT**_ running!" Blake said as she glared.

"You _**WILL**_." Adam said. He kicked Blake on her back catching her off guard. A creep charged at Blake, going to attack her, but was then shot dead by Adam.

"But not before you've suffered for your betrayal, my love." Adam said, before walking towards her.

* * *

- _ **Beacon Courtyard**_ **-**

The group of students defending Beacon, were quickly getting overrun by both Grimm and the Atlesian Knights as well as Atlesian Paladin. Despite their numbers they were getting pushed back. " **WEISS!** " Neptune exclaimed when he saw Weiss fly backwards. Yatsu and Coco and gotten punched by the Atlesian Paladin as well, they both skidded on the ground.

Ren was catching his breath after defeating a group of Grimm. He failed to notice that a Paladin was creeping up behind him.

" **LOOK OUT!** " Nora exclaimed, pushing him out of the way. She had gotten punched by the Paladin. She fell to the ground passing out.

" **NORA, NO!** " Ren shouted running to her, before getting punched by the Paladin as well. The Paladin turned to Coco who recovered from the attack before, Velvet and Neptune. Coco fired with her weapon as did Neptune, but it didn't seem to be phased.

"Uh, this is bad!" Neptune said, "At this rate we're going to get killed!"

Coco stopped firing from her weapon, "Well, I guess now is a good time as any." She said, "Velvet!"

Velvet's expression seem to have brightened, "Really?" She asked.

"Just make them count." Coco said to her with a smile.

Velvet nodded her head and stepped forward to the Paladin, prepared to fight against it.

( _ **Song Starts: I May Fall Ft. Casey Lee Williams & Jeff Williams**_)

 _ **There's a day when our hearts will be broken**_

 _ **When the shadow will cast out the light**_

 _ **And our eyes cry a million tears**_

 _ **Help won't arrive**_

Weiss stood up from the floor, " **WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?** " Weiss exclaimed, " **SHE'S GOING TO GET HURT!** "

All Coco did was smile and said, "Just watch."

Velvet held out her hand and all of a sudden a blue light had appeared from where her camera was, and suddenly the blue light formed, what appeared to Ruby's scythe.

 _ **There's a day when our courage collapses**_

 _ **And our friends turn and leave us behind**_

 _ **Creatures of darkness will triumph**_

 _ **The sun won't rise**_

The Paladin had tried to attack Velvet; She jumped in the air dodging the shot it had fired. Mimicking Ruby's movements, Velvet attacked the Paladin, giving it heavy damage. Once Velvet landed on her feet, the scythe had disappeared, and then formed Weiss's saber.

 _ **When we've lost all hope**_

 _ **And succumb to fear**_

 _ **As the skies rain blood**_

 _ **And the end draws near**_

The Paladin had tried to hit Velvet, but Velvet held up the saber, and the Paladin was suddenly pushed back by an unknown force. Velvet flipped back and charged at the Paladin, giving it a series of cuts. The saber materialized and then changed to Yang's gauntlets. She punched the paladin denting it. Gaining a distance from it she throw punches, firing onto the paladin.

It had tried to punch Velvet and she ducked; the gauntlets faded, and formed Blake's weapon.

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **But not like this, it won't be by your hand**_

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **Not this place, not today**_

Velvet unsheathed one of the swords and latched onto the Paladin. The ribbon came undone and she used it to tie up the Paladins legs; it fell over on it's side. Another Paladin came up from behind her, and attempted to attack her. With one swift movement, she had sliced the Paladin's arm clean off.

She threw the blade and it had hit the Paladin's face.

Than Coco's weapon formed in Velvet's hands. She used it to fire at the Paladin, making it back up a few feet.

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **Bring it all**_

 _ **It's not enough to take me down**_

 _ **I may fall**_

Though despite the makeshift bullets hitting the Paladin, it walked up to Velvet and once again, attempted to attack Velvet head on. Coco's weapons disappeared from Velvet's hands, and Sun's weapon formed. She jumped and attacked it's hands, heavily damaging it. She ran up the Paladin, and Nora's weapon formed in her hands.

She jumped in the air and dented it's head; giving it additional damage when it had fired a round. The Paladin's arm fell off; Velvet stood on top of it's wreckage, and the other Paladin that was tied up earlier stood up, when the ribbon finally disappeared while her back was turned.

Velvet spread out her arms, and on her back it had formed Penny's backpack. The swords emerged from the bag.

 _ **There's a place where we'll stand outnumbered**_

 _ **When the wolves and the soulless will raise**_

 _ **In the time of our final moments**_

 _ **Every dream dies**_

She jumped off and with swift movements from her hands, she sliced off the legs of the Paladin she stood atop on. The sword began to circle and with just a single movement from her hands it had fired a gigantic laser, ultimately destroying.

 _ **There's a place where our shields will lay shattered**_

 _ **And the fear all that's left in our hearts**_

 _ **Strength and our courage have run out**_

 _ **We fall apart**_

The Paladin charged at Velvet landing a hit on her. She cried out in agony and flew, landing on her back.

" **VELVET!** " Coco exclaimed.

Coco turned her weapon towards the Paladin, she had started to fire at it. Soon enough, Neptune, Reese and Nadir began to attack the Paladin as well.

 _ **When we lose our faith**_

 _ **And forsake our friends**_

 _ **When the moon is gone**_

 _ **And we've reached our end**_

Weiss had finally got fed up. Using her glyphs, she sprinted towards Velvet, when the Paladin went to attack Velvet. As she ran, a circle had appeared behind Weiss. She looked back and saw it was the summoning circle.

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **But not like this, it won't be by your hand**_

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **Not this place, not today**_

With the summoning circle still behind her she had gotten in front of Velvet to protect her from the incoming attack from the Paladin. Weiss shut her eyes, so she wouldn't see the attack coming, but she soon heard a clang sound. She opened her eyes and saw that what appeared to be a giant glowing sword, had blocked the Paladin's attack. A Knight's arm was holding onto it.

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **Bring it all**_

 _ **It's not enough to take me down**_

 _ **I may fall**_

The arm moved the Paladin's arm, forcing it to the hit the ground and with one swift movement, it had sliced the Paladin in two.

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **I may fall**_

 _ **I may, I may**_

 _ **Fall**_

( _ **Song Ends**_ )

Weiss looked, and was still shocked to see that she actually managed to perform her summoning. Well, almost perfect, but was still something. Weiss was started by a sudden flash; Velvet had her camera out and smiled when she was satisfied about getting a good shot from it.

The entire group had almost stumbled when they felt the entire ground shake suddenly. They turned and saw that it was another Paladin.

" **YOU HAVE GOTTA BE KIDDING ME!** " Sun couldn't help but exclaim.

* * *

- _ **At That Moment**_ -

Ruby ended up engaging Neo; She had tried to talk to her before but ultimately it ended up the both of them engaging in a fight. Ruby had no choice, she had to fight back. Neo dodged and blocked and continued to attack Ruby head on.

Finally Neo had gained a distance, but shattered when Roman fired a shot. Which caught Ruby by surprise, nearly falling off of the ship. Ruby used her scythe to prevent herself from falling off. Roman walked toward over her and toward over her.

"Little Red, little Red…" He said, "Your just determined to be the hero of Vale aren't you?"

"What are you doing!?" Ruby said, "Without these ships the Grimm will destroy everything!"

"That's the idea!" Roman said, prepared to shot her.

Ruby pushed Roman's gun and it caused him to stumble and miss. Ruby got up, just as Neo rolled over her and she kicked her right in the face. Ruby fell to the ground; as Ruby armed herself, Neo kicked her in the face and caused her to spin. She almost fell off the ship again, but she managed to stick her footing.

Ruby turned back to Roman, Neo standing beside him.

"Roman please! You have to stop this!" Ruby said, "You don't have to keep doing this! You won't gain anything!"

"That's where your wrong little Red!" Roman said, "It's not what I have to gain! It's that I can't afford to lose!"

"You have to listen to me!" Ruby said, "Think about what your doing! Destiny wouldn't want this! She wouldn't want you to do what Cinder is telling you to do!"

Roman gave her a glare, "Don't talk about my daughter like you know her!"

"Destiny is in danger!" Ruby tried to convince, "Cinder wasn't going to give her back to you like she promised! I saw her pass by just now, in that Dragon's head! Please! You have to believe me!"

"Stop telling me lies and just let me kill you already!" Roman shouted, before firing a shot. Using her semblance, Ruby dodged the shot. Neo charged at her again. She kicked at her but this time Ruby block her. That only gave Neo an opening to hook onto her weapon. She went under Ruby causing her to flip. Neo kicked Ruby in the back, causing her to fly towards Roman.

Roman tapped his cane, purposely firing a shot; The cane hit Ruby head on. The cane flew back to Roman; he spun it and fired another round over his shoulder. Ruby continued to fly through the air, finally going over the edge. At the last second Ruby grabbed her Crescent Rose and found herself hanging over the horde of Grimm. Ruby held on for dear life trying her best to climb back up, but found herself struggling to do so.

"Destiny is the only thing I have left in this big screwed up world!" Roman said, "And Cinder threatened to take her away from me! Let me tell you, I had a chance to get her back, I had a chance to bring her back home! But that all went down the drain the moment I found you in that Dust shop!"

Neo approached Ruby, dragging the blade along the floor. She soon pointed the blade at Ruby's face.

"And like it or not, Cinder is going to change the world!" Roman said, "You can't stop her, and I can't stop her even if I wanted to! And this my last chance in getting my daughter back! So either you can get out of my way, or you can-"

"Sorry about this." Ruby suddenly said, cutting him off.

Suddenly Ruby pulled herself up, and pressed a button on Neo's umbrella; it had sprung open. Neo gasped and found herself flying off of the ship and into the horde of Grimm.

" **NEO!** " Roman shouted.

He suddenly found himself being tackled by Ruby, he fell to the ground hard. Ruby took his cane from him and was on top of him.

"Roman, just listen to me for two seconds!" Ruby said, "I'm not the one that's lying to you! Cinder is! She lied to you in saying that she was going to give you Destiny back! I know because Destiny explained to me and my friends!"

Roman didn't really seem to buy it, "Give me on good reason why I should believe you!"

Ruby than reached in her pockets and pulled out a picture. Roman's eyes widened in shock when he saw that it was a picture of his late wife from when she was teen; Trinity.

Roman slowly sat up, "Where did you get that?"

"Destiny gave this to me." Ruby replied, getting off of Roman, "She told me all sorts of things about you and her. And about how much you loved her, and did you're best to be there for her. She mentioned you often. About all the things that you've been doing for the sake of keeping her happy."

Roman continued to stare at the photograph. He actually stammered, "But-I don't understand…" Roman said, "How is this even-?"

"My team and I found her before the Vytal Festival started." Ruby explained, "We've been taking care of her, kept her safe like you've done over the years. I'll admit it was shocking that to hear that you're her dad, but… After all of the things that she told us about you… I saw through her eyes that she had great dad. And in all honesty… If the same thing that happened to Destiny, happened to me or Yang… My father would've done the same thing. But now she's in danger! So please, help me save her, and everyone else, not just for her, but for your wife too."

Roman continued to stare into the photograph, memories flashed about his wife, and of Destiny when she had first came across the photograph.

* * *

- _ **Three Years Earlier**_ -

 _Roman had gotten home late, after another job. He was favoring his right arm, from a bullet wound. He bit his bottom lip and just groaned trying to get through the pain; he was lucky it was only but a graze from the bullet, but it still hurt like hell. He placed his cane down on the counter and went over to his planning to do something about his wound._

 _Though he was befuddled to hear the sound of something falling over and saw that his room door was partly open and that the light was on. He had a pretty good idea of who it could be._

 _He went to the room, still holding onto his arm and opened up the door. He found his little nine year old daughter trying to get all the things she had accidentally knocked over all sorted out with a chair laying on it's side. There were photographs scattered all over the place stuffed animals and some of them were broken glasses from a vase that used to sit on the dresser._

 _Roman stood there silently, somewhat dumbfounded by the mess she made. Finally he got her attention, "Destiny?"_

 _Destiny jumped at the sight of her, "Agh! Dad!" She exclaimed. She accidentally slipped one of the pictures and was about to land right on top of the glass. Roman immediately acted quick; he moved and quickly caught her before she landed on the glass. But he groaned when he caught her with his wounded arm._

 _Destiny seemed to have taken notice this._

" _Daddy… You're arm…" Destiny said with worry._

 _Roman groaned now holding her with his good arm. "I'm fine princess." He reassured her, "It's just a scratch, don't worry."_

 _Roman set her down on the ground away from the glass. "Why are you up so late?" He asked her, "I thought you would be asleep by the time I got home."_

" _I had trouble sleeping." Destiny said._

 _Roman sighed, "The bad dreams again?"_

 _Destiny nodded, "I was looking for something that could help me sleep when I couldn't find mommy's tape. Than I remembered the bear that you showed me; the one you got for her when she was sick. I couldn't reach it so I…"_

 _She played with her hair nervously and started to mumble her words. Roman let out another sigh and patted her head, "You little dumbbell…"_

" _I'm sorry daddy." Destiny said with a guilty look on her face._

" _Destiny… I'm not mad at you. Even if I was, I'm way too tired to be angry with you." He said before handing her Trinity's bear, "Tell you what, as soon as I'm done cleaning up this mess, I'll read you a story to help you sleep, okay?"_

 _Destiny smiled and nodded her head; she took the bear from his hand and hugged it tightly. Roman went ahead to clean up the mess. Destiny's expression seemed to have soften when she looked at the wound on his arm, which often at times he groaned and moaned in pain every time he was forced to move it. She wanted to help her father out with his wound, since she could tell it hurt him, but she didn't really know how wounds work. Though, she should at least get the blood off. She crawled off the king-sized bed, and placed the bear against the pillow before tip-toeing out of the room._

 _Right when she was about enter the bathroom to get a cloth and some water, she noticed a photograph she did not recognize on the floor. She picked it up before going to the bathroom._

 _Roman threw away the broken glass vase and had already started to put away the photographs, he let out a nostalgic sigh. He stopped at one the last one. The very last being there wedding day. He had on a fancy black suit with a dark orange collared shirt and grey tie with his signature bowler hat, feather and cane, while she wore a beautiful vintage steampunk dress, with a hat small hat on top of her head, and her hair tied back in a bun. He always did liked how she dressed classy._

 _The wedding of course wasn't all that fancy. The wedding dress, she actually made herself, and he was quite surprised when it came to the big day._

 _It was indeed one of the best days of his life; but of course, that was one of the many few days that he was actually happy. He remembered the day he had met her; he helped her out in a situation that she couldn't get out of, and she ended up sticking to him like glue ever since then. The both of them were just some kid runaways, staying with people that were more like parents than there own. He ran away from his father who was a drinker, and she ran because she didn't want to be apart of an arranged marriage, made by her step-mother to whom Trinity hated with all of her heart. They both made friends, and lost others, but in the end they still had each other. True they never made amends, Roman with his father, and Trinity's step-mother, but they still kept there new family and friends around; Old friends and new friends._

 _In time he had grown to love her, more than just a friend, or sister like relationship. On the day he confessed, she accepted his love, as he did hers, and they had both married. As a result of their love was their only child, their little princess. It was a classic fairytale… He had only wished that the happy ending had lasted longer for Trinity._

 _Now his new family he once knew was gone, as was his the love of his life, his very own queen, Trinity, and he was struggling to get by. While at the same time he was trying to be there for his little girl and get the medicine that she needed for her heart._

 _He was soon bought out of thought when he suddenly felt a wet cloth on his arm that sort of stung to the touch; he turned and saw that it was his daughter._

" _Destiny, what are you doing?" Roman asked her._

" _I wanted to try and clean up that wound." Destiny replied, "It looks like that it had gotten messy. I thought maybe if I try to help you clean off some of the blood."_

 _Roman seemed a bit surprised at this, "Oh, well… Thank you."_

 _Roman stood still as his daughter started to clean off the blood. He would sometimes look to his daughter and sometimes see his wife in her. Well she did posses her face, so he could understand why. She did take more after her mother after all._

 _In just a short amount of time she was pretty much done, wiping away the blood. It wasn't before he noticed another photograph next to her. One the back it had read, "Our first date"._

" _Where did you get that photo?" Roman asked her._

 _Destiny at first didn't know what he was talking about until she remembered the photo beside her. "Oh, I found it in the hallway." Destiny explained, "I think it slipped out of your pocket." Roman took the photo beside her, and looked at the photo, seeing the teen self of Trinity, when she used to put her hair in a braid. Destiny leaned over to look at the picture._

" _Do you know who this is Destiny?" Roman asked her._

 _Destiny shook her head in reply._

" _This was your mother, when she was younger." He said._

" _Really?" Destiny said with disbelief, "That's really mommy?"_

 _Roman nodded, "I took this photo of her, when we had gone to the Vytal Festival. She didn't really like how this photo turned out, but you know what I said to her?"_

" _What?"_

" _I told her, 'I think it catches your beauty that shines more than any other girl I have ever laid eyes on, and you my queen, are indeed the fairest of them all'"_

 _Destiny's face pretty much looked like a kitten by her father's words at the compliment to her late mother. Though Destiny's face lit up with surprise when he placed the picture into her hands._

" _Here princess." Roman said, "I want you to have this."_

 _Destiny immediately shook her head, "Daddy, I can't! It's your treasure you should have-"_

 _Roman stopped her in mid-sentence, "No, this is something that you should have. And I think your mother would've wanted you to have this picture for you to keep too."_

 _Destiny looked at him with an unsure look on her face, "Is it really okay?"_

" _Of course it is." Roman replied, "Just promise me, you'll take extra good care of this."_

 _Destiny replied, "Of course daddy, I promise."_

 _Roman patted her on the head and kissed her on the cheek, "That's my good girl."_

 _He quickly went to bandage up his wound real quick after removing his jacket, he than picked her up and carried, her in his arms. He handed her the bear he retrieved from the pillow, "Now which bedtime story do you wanna hear?" He asked his daughter_

" _The Story of the Seasons!" Destiny exclaimed gleefully._

 _Roman couldn't help but chuckle, "You never get tired of that story do you?" Destiny smiled and laughed while nuzzling the little bear with her cheek._

* * *

 _-_ _ **Present**_ _-_

Roman was soon bought out his own thoughts when he felt a hand over his. He looked up and saw Ruby still in front of him. Soon enough he thought about what Ruby was saying to him, about his daughter. He had his suspicion that Cinder was lying to him about giving him back his daughter, but in all honesty he was hoping she wasn't.

Ruby asked curiously, "Roman? Do you believe me?"

Roman at first didn't reply and he placed the picture in his coat pocket, finally he had said, "You said you saw her pass by here right?"

Ruby's expression brightened, "Yes, I did! I'll help you in any I can, but first things first, the Knights and the Paladins, we have to stop them from attacking innocent people. Do you know how?"

Roman stood up and Ruby handed back his weapon. "They're all being controlled by a program, designed by Cinder." Roman said, "I think I can deactivate them but- **RED LOOK OUT!** "

Roman suddenly pushed Ruby out of the way, he jumped out of the way when a large Griffon. The large Griffon had managed to hit him, pushing back behind it; his arm broke from the hit and he cried out in agony.

" **ROMAN!** " Ruby exclaimed, " **ARE YOU OKAY!?** "

" **DON'T WORRY ABOUT ME!** " Roman shouted back as he got up, holding his now broken arm.

The Griffon roared pushing Ruby back. Ruby ran at the Griffon and it charged at her; she jumped and hit it above it's head, and it fell within the ship.

Ruby ran over to him, "Roman, you're arm!"

"I'll be fine." Roman said as he tried to work through the pain, "Where did you hit that Griffon too?"

They felt the whole ship started to shake when they both heard a muffled explosion from the inside, and they found that the ship had started to fall towards the ground. Ruby and Roman both looked at each other and at the same time, they both thought of the same thing.

"Run?" Ruby asked him.

"Yup, definitely run." Roman said.

They both started to run towards the end of the ship as the ship started to blow up from the inside. " **I HOPE YOU HAVE SOME SORT OF PLAN IN MIND RED!** " Roman shouted through the explosion.

" **I DO!** " Ruby shouted back, " **WE HAVE TO GET TO MY WEAPON!** "

Ruby and Roman ran alongside the ship as it began to turn over on it's side, Ruby grabbed ahold of her Crescent Rose before shouting, " **GRAB MY SHOULDER!** " They both jumped off and Roman grabbed her shoulder. She used her semblance to get the both of them out of horde and Ruby aimed for the ground; She kept on pulling the trigger to the both of them hovering in the air.

Eventually they both landed on the rooftop within the boundaries of Beacon. They both landed on their back and caught their breath. They sat up and watched as the ship descended from the sky. "Well…" Roman said removing his scarf attempting to use it as a makeshift cast, "That's one way to get rid of a program."

Ruby saw he was having trouble and went to help him. She wrapped it around his arm and the back of his neck.

"I don't normally say this to anyone, but…" Roman said as she finished up, "Thank you."

"Hey no problem!" Ruby said, "I'm just sorry about your arm."

"I wasn't talking about my arm Red." He said looking her in the eye.

Ruby didn't quite understand, but it took her a few seconds to realize what he meant. She smiled to him, "You're welcome."

Ruby stood and picked up her weapon and threw him his hat since it fell off when they landed. "Come on, we gotta find my teammates." She said to him.

Roman nodded his head and picked up his cane and put on his hat, "Lead the way."

They proceeded off the rooftop and into the building they landed on.

* * *

- _ **City of Vale**_ -

Glynda and Qrow with a help of a few members from team CRDL had managed to push back the Grimm, but the Knights were still proving to be a problem, since they were outnumbered by them. Cardin was about to get shot by the Knights but they were suddenly shot in the head; they flew off.

Cardin's jaw dropped by what he saw. Out of the smoke, Ironwood appeared bearing a gun in his hand. His shirt was torn revealing his chest; half of his body was entirely of metal. He simply pointed his gun and shot the Knights on all sides; they exploded by the impact of the bullet.

The Knights had tried to attack him, but he kept on hitting them head on, most of them broke in half.

He turned to Glynda and Qrow, "This area is secure." He said, "We need too-"

Qrow's gears in his sword had started to move; it had changed into a scythe. He pointed the scythe towards Ironwood.

"Qrow!" Ironwood said, "This isn't my doing!"

Qrow ran towards Ironwood and jumped into the air, dragging his scythe along with him; Ironwood prepared to defend himself.

With a leap Qrow flew into the air, but to Ironwood's surprise, Qrow flew just above him. He turned and saw that a Griffon was about to attack him, but Qrow had sliced the Griffon in two. Qrow landed on his feet and what remained of the Griffon evaporated into dust.

He turned to the general, "You idiot, I know you didn't do this." Qrow said.

Ironwood sighed and Glynda gave him a comforting pat on the shoulder.

"... So, what now?" Qrow asked him.

Ironwood had replied, "Someone's done the impossible and gained control of my machines. And the enormous amount of Grimm seem to be fixated on the school."

He turned to Glynda, "Glynda, I need you to form up with the local Huntsman and establish a safe zone here in Vale. We need to evacuate Beacon."

He than turned back to Qrow, "Qrow, I'm leaving the evacuation to you and my men. I still need to get to my ship."

They heard an explosion up in the air and saw the Atlas Blue Two descend from the sky. It had soon crashed right into the far part of the city. Qrow scratched the back of his head, "Well, it won't be much of a walk."

The Atlassian Knights, and Paladins had shut down, from all around Beacon and Vale.

* * *

- _ **Beacon Academy**_ -

The whole of students were in shock when they saw the Paladin that was about to charge them suddenly shut down. They couldn't but sigh with relief and catch there breath after fighting about four of them.

"That went better than I expected." Sun said.

Soon enough a familiar voice came over the crowd.

" **WEISS!** "

Weiss and the group turned to see that it was Yang with Zwei behind her.

Yang stopped in her tracks, "Thank God, you're okay." Yang said with relief, "Have you heard anything from Ruby or Destiny?"

Weiss replied, still exhausted from the fight, "... Ren and Nora said… Ruby went to get Roman… Destiny went to Mountain Glenn… But we haven't seen her come back yet…"

Yang noticed someone else was missing as well, "What about Blake?" She asked her, "Where is she?"

"She went… After an Alpha…" Weiss said, pointing in the direction Blake ran in, "And some members… Of the White Fang…"

"You look for Ruby and Destiny." Yang said, "I'll go find Blake."

Yang ran the direction Blake had gone to and all Weiss did was give a thumbs up.

* * *

- _ **Below Vault**_ -

Ozpin, Pyrrha and Jaune ran out of the elevator as soon as the doors opened. They ran down the large hall where Amber was. Jaune couldn't help but look around as they ran.

"Wha…" He stammered, "What is this place?"

Pyrrha replied while still running, "It's… A type of vault."

Jaune looked at her, he had a look of confusion, "You've… You've been here before? I don't get it. What would this school… Have to hide?"

They soon stopped in their tracks when they had reached Amber. Jaune looked at the girl in the capsule, not recognizing her.

"What?" He said, "Who is that?"

Pyrrha was about to reply when she heard Ozpin say, "Pyrrha! Get inside the capsule!" Pyrrha took one look at Jaune, before going to the empty capsule. Ozpin turned to Jaune, "Mister Arc, if you would like to help, you can stand guard."

Jaune nodded and took his stance, arming himself with his sword. Ozpin was typing away, as he did Pyrrha asked, "What do we do?"

"We… Do nothing." Ozpin replied. The capsule opened, and Pyrrha couldn't help but step back.

"You Miss Nikos… Have a choice to make." Ozpin said.

Pyrrha looked to the capsule and looked back to Jaune. Her eyes welled up with tears again.

" _ **I'm sorry Jaune…**_ "

Pyrrha placed her weapon and shield to the side and stepped in, the capsule closed shut, and it had begun to power up.

* * *

- _ **Beacon Cafeteria**_ -

Blake flew back into the wall landing on her side after recieving an attack from Adam. She tried her best to recover, but Adam got dangerously close.

"This day could've been our day!" Adam said, "Can't you see that!?"

"I never wanted this!" Blake exclaimed, her sword changing into a gun, "I wanted equality! I wanted peace!"

She got up on her knees and fired at Adam; He blocked the bullets and his hair, part of his coat and sword lit up only for a moment before disappearing.

" **WHAT YOU WANT IS IMPOSSIBLE!** " He shouted, before slapping her across the face; Blake fell on her side again. She struggled to get up off the floor.

"But I understand." He said, "Because all I want… _**Is you Blake.**_ "

Blake tried to attack, but he kicked away her weapon before she could; she fell on her back.

Adam toward over her and kneeled on one knee, "And as I set out upon this world and deliver the justice mankind so greatly deserve… _**I will make it my mission to destroy everything you love.**_ "

Soon they heard a voice shout from a distance, " **BLAKE!** "

They saw Yang, taking out some of the members of the White Fang.

" **BLAKE! WHERE ARE YOU!?** " She called out.

Blake's eyes widened in horror when she realized what Adam was going to do.

" _ **Starting with her.**_ "

* * *

- _ **Meanwhile**_ -

Ozpin was just about ready to transfer Amber's aura over to Pyrrha. They heard the muffled explosion from above. Soon enough, Ozpin had finished typing in what was needed.

"Are you ready?" He asked Pyrrha.

Pyrrha turned to Ozpin and nodded her head. "I…" Ozpin said, " _ **I need to hear you say it**_."

Pyrrha turned away and replied, "Yes."

"Thank you Miss Nikos." Ozpin said. Thus with a press of a button he had begun the transfer; As this happened, Amber began to wake up. The wires lit up with orange and flowed to where Pyrrha had laid.

She had begun to scream in agony as she felt the energy flow into her.

" **PYRRHA!** " Jaune exclaimed, hearing her screams. He ran to the machine and locked around; he tried to make sense by what was happening right now.

"I'm… I'm so sorry." Ozpin said.

As Amber started to stir awake she had-

" **GAH!** "

All of sudden, an arrow and gone straight through the glass, piercing her heart.

They turned and saw Cinder standing there with her bow in hand. She had a grin on her face.

* * *

- _ **At That Moment**_ -

Adam stabbed Blake in her side; Blake cried out in pain, drawing the attention of Yang. Adam removed the blade and Blake clutched her side.

"Get away from her!" Yang shouted to Adam.

Blake reached out to Yang, in an attempt to stop her, "No... " She moaned through the pain, "Please…"

Yang's hair lit up like fire and, her eyes turned red, " **NOOOOOOOWWWWWW!** " She shouted, before rocketing herself towards Adam. With one swing from his sword, he attacked Yang. The world went in slow motion, as Yang's arm suddenly split in two. The other half, disintegrating completely. She fell on her side passing out, and Destiny's bracelet, just next to her.

Adam walked towards her to finish her off, but Blake quickly ran to her, in an attempt to protect her. Adam stopped in his tracks.

"Why must you hurt me Blake?" He said. Blake didn't answer, she just glared at him. Adam swung his sword, and Blake's head came clean off.

But the figure suddenly vanished, indicating that she had used her semblance. He turned and saw Blake run with Yang and holding what appeared to be a bracelet in her hand. Adam turned to walk away, taking out a Grimm on his way out.

* * *

- _ **Back At The Vault**_ -

Amber struggled to gasp for air, but finally gave out and fell limp in the capsule. The energy, suddenly left Amber's body and flew right into Cinder. Both of her eyes, were covered with flames. Pyrrha struggled to get out as she saw Cinder start to hover above the ground.

Jaune charged at her.

" **NO, STAY BACK!** " Ozpin exclaimed.

Cinder let out a powerful fire blast, causing Jaune to go flying backwards landing on his back.

" **JAUNE!** " Pyrrha exclaimed, using her semblance to get the lid off; Cinder of course sent it flying in the other direction.

Using her semblance she got her weapon and shield she-

" **NO!** " Ozpin said stopping her, "Take Jaune and get out of here! Find Glynda! Qrow! Ironwood, and bring them here! The tower cannot fall!"

"But-I can help!" Pyrrha said, trying to convince him to get her to stay.

Ozpin turned to her, "You'll only get in the way."

Pyrrha stood there and was bit hesitant, before she grabbed Jaune and ran out of the Vault. Cinder allowed them to escape as she lowered herself onto the ground, she turned to Ozpin.

"This whole time…" She said, "She was right here beneath our feet… _**She**_ was right about you… _**Such arrogance.**_ "

Thus, both her and Ozpin, engaged in a fight.

 _ **(Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4-I Will Performed by Sowelu)**_


	15. Chapter 14: Has to Have Faith

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )

All of the students and other citizens had gathered around the courtyard at Beacon. Some Atlas Soldiers helped out with the paramedics, with anyone who was wounded, by getting them onto the ship while others had tried calm down from the attack. Oobleck and Port stood among the crowd, with only but a few cuts and bruises.

"Everybody get on board!" Port said to the crowd, "This is a mandatory evacuation!"

"A safe zone has been established in Vale!" Oobleck said, "Everyone, remain calm and listen to Atlas personal!"

Weiss sat on the floor sitting beside Yang and Blake, still in shock by what had happened to them.

She soon heard someone shout her name, " **WEISS! WEISS!** "

Weiss turned and saw Ruby running along side with Destiny's father Roman; he had his scarf wrapped around like a cast. "Ruby!" Weiss said, getting up off the floor, and running towards her. She threw her arms around her. "Ruby we were so worried about you! Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine!" Ruby said pushing herself out of the hug, "Good news, I found Roman! He's on our side now!"

Weiss turned to him, "Hi." She couldn't help but awkwardly.

"Ice Queen." Roman greeted awkwardly too, though Weiss let that name slide.

Zwei ran up to them; he got up on his hind legs and leaned on Roman's leg. He barked and drooled.

"Oh, good, you really do have a pet." Roman said with sarcasm, "That's nice."

"I did tell you on the way over here didn't I?" Ruby said to him. Roman pushed Zwei off of his leg.

Ruby turned back to Weiss, "Listen, Destiny's in trouble, and we have to go help her. Where's Blake and Yang?"

Weiss lightly gasped, and looked down at her feet. "What's wrong?" Ruby asked her.

"Ruby…" Weiss said solemnly, "There's… Something you need to see."

Ruby tilted her head, as she followed Weiss. When she had gotten to where the ships were, her eyes widened with shock, when she saw, Yang and Blake on the floor severely injured; In fact, Yang's left arm was completely gone and Destiny's bracelet laid in the open palm of her right hand. Ren and Nora sat on the floor as well, both of them injured from the fight as well.

Blake was crying; she reached her hand out to Yang and placed her hand over her's over the bracelet. "I'm sorry…" She said with her voice cracked, "I'm… I'm so sorry…"

Ruby placed her hand over her mouth. Roman looked at the injuries on her friends and had a pretty good idea who did this, "... Damn the White Fang…" He said, "First they kidnap my daughter, and now they… They really are heartless aren't they?"

"...Yang…" Ruby said solemnly, "No…"

Sun walked over to Ruby, "Hey, she's going to be alright. The soldiers are going to take you guys to Vale."

"But Jaune and Pyrrha are still missing!" Nora said, trying to get up, but groaned.

"And we still have to get Destiny!" Ruby said, "She's in danger!"

"We can't leave her or them!" Weiss said to Sun, "They're our friends!"

"Look guys!" Sun said before pointing up to the Dragon, "That giant Grimm keeps circling the school! Even the White Fang are pulling out! We all have to go… Now!"

"We're not...Leaving!" Ren said, trying stand up, but he fell to his knees again. Everyone stood their silently, wondering what to do exactly. Roman finally spoke up, "You guys can run to Vale if you want to. I'm not leaving here, not without my little girl.."

"Well you're not going alone. Not with that injury." Ruby said to him before turning to the group, "I'll find, Destiny, Jaune and Pyrrha. I'll find them and I'll bring them back."

Weiss stepped forward, "No, _**we'll**_ find them, together." She said to them with a smile.

Ruby walked over to Yang; removing the stuffed animal from he belt. She placed it just beside Yang. "This is for you sis." Ruby said, "Destiny won this for you, before all of this started. She wanted you to have it, and she said that she's sorry she couldn't give it to you in person." Ruby place her hand on top of Yangs and Blake. She said to her teammates. "I'll be back with her, Jaune and Pyrrha, don't worry. And Yang… I love you."

Ruby went to join up with Roman and Weiss. Weiss said to Sun, "Watch after Blake and Yang. We'll be back."

Thus the three of them ran back towards the headmaster's building. " **YOU BETTER BE!** " Sun shouted, before mumbling to himself, "Idiots…"

* * *

- _ **Headmaster Building**_ -

Both Jaune and Pyrrha ran out of the headmasters building and caught their breath, both of them were in shock by what had just happened. Destiny's kidnapper… Cinder… The one responsible for Penny's death, had did it. She has the Fall Maidens powers.

"Okay… Okay." Jaune said catching his breath, "I think I have Glynda's number!"

He took out his scroll and started to look through his contact list. Pyrrha looked back to the building, thinking on this situation.

"Damn it, where is it?" Jaune mumbled to himself. Soon enough, he turned to Pyrrha, "Pyrrha? All of that just now… What exactly was that?" He asked.

"Jaune it's-"

Pyrrha was suddenly cut off when they felt the whole ground shake. They felt the whole ground heat up and they felt the ground heat up suddenly, and they realized what that meant.

"No…" Jaune said, "It can't be... Ozpin…"

"There's no time." Pyrrha said before turning to Jaune, "Go! Get to the city and call for help!"

"Why?" Jaune asked her, "What are you going to do?"

Pyrrha looked to the building and Jaune's eyes widened in realization, "No!" Jaune protested, "Pyrrha you can't! You saw how powerful she is! Pyrrha I won't let you-Mmh!?"

Jaune was cut off when he suddenly felt Pyrrha's lips press against his. Unconsciously he place his arms around her waist and in turn, she placed her arms around his neck; Jaune started to kiss back. Finally after what seemed like hours, Pyrrha pulled away from Jaune and place her hand on his chest and another on his cheek.

"I'm sorry…"

She had activated her semblance and pushed Jaune into a locker nearby; it closed shut. Pyrrha went and typed in a six digit code.

" **PYRRHA! STOP!** " Jaune begged, " **PLEASE DON'T DO THIS!** "

Pyrrha gave him one last look, before the locker was sent flying towards Vale. She watched as the locker disappeared from the distance. Than she turned and went back inside the building. She ran towards the elevator, and opened it with her semblance. She saw that there was a hole from the bottom of the elevator to the top. She walked inside of the elevator and used all of her power to send the elevator, rocketing upward.

* * *

- _ **At that Moment**_ -

Ruby, Roman, and Weiss had ran towards where Jaune and Pyrrha were last seen. Ruby had explained to Weiss and Roman what she thinks happened to Destiny.

"So you're saying she's in the dragon's head!?" Roman exclaimed as he ran with them, "How!?"

"I don't know!" Ruby replied, "I only know what I saw! We can worry about how she ended up in it's head later, for now we need to focus on saving her!"

"How exactly do we do that!?" Weiss said.

"I don't know, but we'll think of something!" Ruby said.

Just than they stopped in their tracks when they heard a ringtone. It was coming from Weiss's scroll. She removed it from her dress pocket and saw the caller.

"It's Jaune!" She said. She picked up the call and put it on speaker, "Jaune, where are you?"

" _ **Weiss!**_ " Jaune exclaimed in desperation, " _ **Please you have to stop her!**_ "

"What? What are you talking about?"

" _ **Pyrrha! She's gone after Cinder! At the top of the tower! You have to stop her!**_ "

Roman's eyes widened at this, "She went after Cinder?" He said, "That's suicide, why would she do that?"

"Suicide, what do you mean?" Ruby asked him.

Roman said to Ruby with honesty, "I mean… Your friend up there, if Cinder had managed to gain something with this plan, she's not going to stand a chance against her if we don't get up there."

Ruby and Weiss gasped at this. Weiss then asked Jaune, "Okay, we'll go to Pyrrha! What about you? Where are you? Are you safe?"

They heard Jaune yell, with his voice suddenly cracking, " _ **Don't worry about me! Please… You have to save Pyrrha…**_ "

Weiss reassured him, "Don't worry, we will. Are you alright?"

Just like that, their was static. "Jaune? Jaune!" Weiss cried out. Just than they saw the Grimm Dragon circle around the tower, manifesting more and more Grimm creatures until the dragon rested on one of the beams. Roman, Ruby and Weiss drew their weapons.

"I have a plan." Ruby said to the both of them.

"You always do." Weiss said.

"Whatever it is, it had better work Red." Roman said.

The three of them then charged at the Grimm.

* * *

- _ **Meanwhile**_ -

Cinder had gotten to the top of the tower, and walked through the out of the smoke towards the window. Soon enough she was met face to face with Grimm Dragon that had come from Mountain Glenn; it's eyes glowed red orange. It blinked changing to a shade of green .

"You've done well Destiny." Cinder said with a smile, "I told you before didn't I? That you were destined to play this part. And I have to say, you did exactly as I thought you would."

The Dragon blinked and let out a roar.

Cinder had shushed the Dragon gently, "Shhh… This is your home now."

The Dragon looked at Cinder curiously, with it's eyes transitioning from orange and green in a certain blinking pattern. Just than Cinder heard a screech sound from one of the elevators. It dinged and the doors opened. A spear suddenly flew with a spin, and Cinder dodged it with ease.

Pyrrha charged at her head on, with her shield, but Cinder was quick to block her attack. Pyrrha flipped back, retrieving her sword and shield with the help of her semblance. Cinder had attacked her with her magic, but Pyrrha managed to dodge the attack as she continued to use her magic. Until Pyrrha finally blocked the fire with her shield. Pyrrha jumped and attempted to charge at her with her blade. However Cinder caught her blade pushed her back with her magic.

Pyrrha hit the wall and lost her shield. Cinder flew towards her, but Pyrrha hooked her arm with her and landed on the wall with her feet; she managed to push her back a few feet. Pyrrha charged at Cinder, attacking her in the gut with her shield and landing a few hits with her sword. Cinder flipped and Pyrrha flew to the ceiling.

Pyrrha threw her spear and it rocketed towards her and then she threw her shield, and it had caught Cinder off guard. Pyrrha tackled Cinder and they tumbled right until they crashed onto the floor. By the time the smoke cleared, Pyrrha had her arm around her neck and blade near her body.

The Dragon suddenly flew from the tower and then flew back, attempting to, break the tower. Pyrrha looked outside the window and saw the Dragon flying towards them. But she saw a familiar face stuck in the it's head, via black goop.

"Destiny?"

Suddenly, Pyrrha's blade broke and she was suddenly hit in the gut, by Cinder's elbow. The windows shattered as the Dragon flew breaking the tower on impact. The gears fell and the debris fell to the ground. Pyrrha was unconscious for a few seconds, but woke up after the dust cleared. She crawled over to her shield, but found Cinder just hovering in front of her.

" _ **I've gotta help Destiny.**_ " Pyrrha thought, " _ **But I can't do that with Cinder here. There's gotta be some way I can-**_ "

She saw the gears and table that was scattered around in what remained of the tower, and had gotten an idea. Using her semblance she throw the table once again catching Cinder off guard, and Pyrrha went to grab her shield, and prepared to defend herself from Cinder's next attack. Cinder recovered and used her magic to attack Pyrrha.

Pyrrha dodged the fire projectiles until the fire engulfed Pyrrha, catching her off guard this time. Out of the flames Pyrrha threw her shield, but Cinder had easily blocked. Though Cinder soon realized that it was all but a distraction, when she saw gears surrounding her.

Pyrrha used her semblance to get her shield back, causing Cinder to stumble. A gear hit her in the stomach knocking her out and soon enough the other gears piled on top of her trapping her.

"That should hold her."

The Dragon had suddenly latched itself on the tower and roared at her. Without her sword, Pyrrha grabbed a substitute, she grabbed a nearby pipe and speared it in the head. The Dragon cried out in agony and the black goop began to loosen up on the child

Pyrrha used more pipes to spear it around the black gope and the Dragon, continued to cry out in agony until finally the black goop gave out. Destiny fell and Pyrrha quickly went to catch her. She dived and caught her, landing on her side near the edge. Pyrrha recovered from the fall and held Destiny in her arms; she had gotten concerned when she saw the her shirt stained with her blood. Though she did find it strange when she didn't see any wound. The black goop that once covered her body vanished into black dust.

" **DESTINY WAKE UP!** " Pyrrha shouted in desperation trying to shake her wake, " **PLEASE! PLEASE OPEN YOUR EYES!** "

Pyrrha started to worry when she had gotten no response at first. Until finally she saw her hand twitch and her eyes start to move. Destiny slowly opened her eyes halfway, looking half dead. Pyrrha's eyes looked into hers worriedly and…

"Py… Ra…?" She heard the child say, with her voice a bit croaked.

Pyrrha's eyes welled up with tears of joy when she heard Destiny's voice. Pyrrha nodded her head, "Yeah, yeah it's me, Pyra." She said as she hugged her gently, "I'm here… I'm here…"

"The… Dra…" Destiny said before groaning in pain, "I'm sorry… I couldn't… Repay you…"

Pyrrha broke out of it and shook her head, "Don't worry about that okay? Try to save your strength."

Pyrrha picked her up and took her away from the ledge. She was looking for a way down safely.

"Da...Dad…" Destiny said, "Where is…"

"Ruby went after your father." Pyrrha replied gently "Don't worry I'm sure he's safe, and waiting for you."

"Py…"

"Shhh… Don't talk anymore okay? You need to save your strength. Everything is going to be just fine. We're going to get you help, and-"

Just than she felt the whole ground heat up. She turned and saw the gears starting to light up with fire. Cinder had emerged from the piles of gears and most were sent flying over the edge while one gear headed straight for Pyrrha.

Despite her blocking with her shield, she with Destiny in her arms flew back into a pillar. She looked at her hand and saw, that her Aura had finally broke.

* * *

- _ **Down Below**_ -

Ruby, Weiss, and Roman managed to fend themselves off against the Grimm, despite Roman only having one arm. The three of them had finally managed to push the Grimm back. " **WE GOTTA HURRY!** " Ruby exclaimed.

"They're no way up!" Roman said, "All the elevators in that tower are probably all busted!"

Weiss took care of that problem; with a simple movement from her hand, glyphs had appeared at the side of the tower.

"That'll work." Roman said.

Weiss turned to Ruby, "You can do this."

Ruby looked to Weiss then over to Roman, "Go for it Red."

Ruby nodded and used her semblance to jump to the tower; than with the help of the glyphs she had started to run up as fast as she could.

* * *

- _ **Up Above**_ -

Pyrrha placed Destiny down on the floor, and stood up, arming herself with only but a shield while Cinder armed herself with her bow and arrow. Pyrrha threw her shield, and at the same time, Cinder fired her arrow.

The arrow had collided with the shield. Though in a split second the arrow broke itself and then repaired itself. The arrow pierced Pyrrha in the ankle; she cried out in agony and she fell to her knees. She tried to stand but she found herself falling to the floor again. The arrow broke and Pyrrha caught her breath, exhausted from the fight and overcome with the the pain.

Cinder stalked her like a vulture, "It's unfortunate you were promised a power that was never truly yours."

Cinder kneeled on one knee and grasped Pyrrha's chin forcing her to look up at her.

"But take comfort in knowing… That I will use it in ways, you cannot imagine." She said.

Pyrrha removed her head and looked up at Cinder, asking only one thing.

"Do you believe in destiny?"

"Yes." Was all that Cinder replied.

Destiny with all of her strength, crawled over to Pyrrha despite of the huge amount of pain she was in, until she was behind her. She reached out and took her hand.

"Py...ra…?" She groaned, laying down on her side "Wha...What's… Happening…?"

She felt Pyrrha tightened her grip on her hand; Destiny felt her hand trembling slightly.

"Destiny… Thank you."

Than, all Destiny heard was muffled sounds; She heard a swish and someone jump on top of the tower and then, felt Pyrrha's hand go limp. In a matter of seconds Destiny could've sworn that her body had disappeared, and she heard something fall to the floor. And the child found herself holding onto Pyrrha's bracelet, the one she made for her after JNPR won in the first round of the Vytal Festival tournament. Destiny felt tears stream down her face when she realized what had happened.

" **PYRRHA!** " Destiny heard someone scream loudly.

And just like that, everything turned white.

 _ **(Second Ending Theme: Full Metal Alchemist Ending 4-I Will Performed by Sowelu)**_


	16. Chapter 15: Divide

Ruby ran up to the tower and finally managed to get to the top, but unfortunately when she did she had gotten there too late. Destiny laid just behind Pyrrha while Pyrrha herself was on her knees before Cinder with an arrow pulled back. Cinder let go of the arrow and it had pierced her chest. Pyrrha gasped for air, but then had gone limp in the matter of seconds.

Cinder walked up to Pyrrha and placed a hand on top of Pyrrha's head. Her whole body had suddenly glowed orange. Than just like that, she had turned to ash; the only things left were her headgear and the bracelet which Destiny now held.

Ruby's eyes widened in horror by what she had just seen, and her eyes welled up with tears.

" **PYRRHA!** " She exclaimed. All of a sudden her eyes had glowed white, and it had formed wings suddenly. The white light surrounded everything, including the Grimm Dragon and Cinder who was petrified to see what had happened before her. The whole world had turned white.

* * *

 _ **It's alright I gotcha kiddo, I gotcha.**_

 _ **Destiny! Destiny! Where is she?! Where the hell is my daughter!?**_

… _**Still nothing.**_

 _ **Just turn it off. Without the CCT there's no point.**_

 _ **Communications down across the entire Kingdom… No way to contact the outside world… and Ozpin's still missing.**_

 _ **Yeah.**_

 _ **This is bad Qrow.**_

 _ **I know, this is bad.**_

 _ **Ruby… I'm sorry...**_

* * *

Ruby had started to come too. Upon opening her eyes, she found herself in a room all familiar too familiar to her, and in her grey dotted PJs. She looked and saw her father, Taiyang sitting on a chair, just at the side of her bed, sleeping.

Ruby groaned as she sat up. "... Dad?" She said

Taiyang stirred awake and looked up at his daughter. "Ruby!" He said running over to her, kneeling beside her, "Your awake!"

Ruby let out another groan, "What happened?"

Taiyang explained, "Your uncle Qrow found you, unconscious, he got you out there though, he brought you home safe"

"Wait, Yang!" Ruby exclaimed with worry, "Is she alright!?"

Taiyang replied hesitantly, "Uh, she's… She's gonna be alright. I think she's just… I think it's gonna take some time for her to get used to things. She's too strong to let this stop her."

Taiyang took a moment to wipe away a tear that streamed down his face, "I'm just glad to have my girls back home."

"What about the school!?" Ruby asked, "And Vale! Were they able to clear out the Grimm!?"

Taiyang had began to explain to her, "Things at Vale are under control. But the school… I'm afraid it's not that simple. That thing… Whatever it was… _**Doesn't seem to be dead**_. Now, don't get me wrong, you did a number on it, but it's not disappearing. It's kind of… Well, _**frozen**_. I know that doesn't sound too bad, but it keeps attracting more Grimm to the school."

Ruby looked at him with confusion, "... I did what?"

"Hm?"

"You said I did a number on it, what do you mean?"

"I… Look it's not important right now, we can talk about it later. Things are just… Kind of a mess."

A familiar voice came over them, "It's always a mess."

They saw Qrow, standing by the door drinking from his flask till it was empty. "Mind if we have a minute?" Qrow asked Taiyang.

"What I can't stay here?" Taiyang asked him.

"Tai. Please."

Taiyang sighed, and stood up; He kissed Ruby on the forehead. "I'm glad you're alright." He said, as he proceeded to leave the room, "I'll go make us some tea."

Taiyang left the room, Qrow had pulled up a chair and sat down. "So… How are you feeling?"

"Um… I kind of hurt all over." Ruby replied.

"That makes sense after what you did." Qrow said.

"You guys keep saying that! That I did something… What are you talking about?"

"Ruby… What's the last thing you remember?"

"I ran up the side of the tower… And when I got to the top…"

Ruby gasped; her eyes widened in horror, when she remembered Pyrrha.

"Pyrrha!" Ruby said, "Is she-"

Qrow replied solemnly, "I'm sorry Ruby… She's gone."

Tears began to appear at Ruby's eyes; she continued as her voice started to crack, "I-I, I got to the top… And I saw Pyrrha… And Destiny… And _**Cinder**_. And then everything went white."

"Anything else?" Qrow asked.

Ruby wiped away her tears, "I remember… My head hurting."

This time, Qrow changed the question, "The night you met Ozpin. What was the first thing he said to you?"

"I don't know… I think it was something about my…" Ruby said, before thinking back to the first night she met him.

" _ **You… Have silver eyes…**_ "

"My eyes?" Ruby said questioningly.

"Your Silver Eyes." Qrow clarified, "That's an _**extremely**_ rare trait."

Ruby gave a quizzical look. "So?" She asked him.

Qrow started to explain, " _ **You're special**_ Ruby. And not in the " _ **Daddy**_ _**loves his special angel**_ " kind of way. You're special in the same way your mother was. Remnants full of legends and stories. Some of them true, some of them made up. But there's one Oz told me from a very long time ago. _**Back before huntsmen, before kingdoms**_. It was said that those born with Silver Eyes were destined to lead the life of a warrior. You see, the creatures of Grimm-The most fearsome monsters mankind have encountered, were afraid of the Silver Eyed warriors. They were the best of the best. It was said that even one single look from one of these fighters could strike a Grimm down. It's a ridiculous story."

Ruby asked her Uncle, "Wait, so… You think I might be…?"

Qrow sat back in his chair, "Well… A giant monsters currently frozen on top of Beacon tower, and your here, safe and sound in bed."

Qrow got up and walked over to the window. It wasn't long before Ruby realized something, "Wait a minute… How do you know what Ozpin said to me? The night I met him… How did…?"

"All those missions I go on…" Qrow replied, "All the times I'm in some far off place… It's all been for Ozpin. _**But he's missing now**_. Something's been set in motion, and with Ozpin gone, I'm gonna have to pick up where he left off."

"Then what can I do?" Ruby asked, "If I'm so special, then I can help! Right?"

Qrow turned to her, at one point winking to her, "You really wanna help? Get some rest. You're in no condition to go anywhere right now. Besides, our enemy's trail leads all the way to Haven That'd be quite a trip for a pipsqueak like you. Catch you later kiddo." With that Qrow took his leave. Ruby looked to the mirror; looking at the reflection of her silver eyes. She than looked to her wrist; looking at the bracelet, which was made by Destiny. She got up out of bed, and went to go to see Yang, whose room was just down the hall.

Yang sat in her bed looking out the window; Holding close to her chest, was a plushie of a dog, with her bracelet around her wrist. Her weapon sat just beside her on the dresser, but Yang didn't pay any attention to it.

It wasn't long before she heard the door creak open and the sound of Ruby's voice.

"Yang?" Ruby said.

Yang, at first didn't respond; and just when Ruby was about leave-

"Ruby." Yang replied.

Ruby turned to look at Yang, and Yang turned to her; her tears coming to her eyes. Ruby bit her lip and ran over to hug her; But Yang didn't return the hug.

"I'm so happy you're okay!" Ruby said with relief.

"But I'm not." Yang replied. Ruby let herself out of the hug, and she looked to her with concern. Ruby's eyes couldn't help but soften when she saw Yang's arm missing. "It's all gone…" Yang said to her, hugging the little plushie tighter, "Everything's gone… The school… Pyrrha… Penny… And even…"

Ruby didn't really know what she was saying, "Yang… Where are Weiss, and Blake? And what happened to Destiny? Is she back with Roman?"

Yang turned to her and replied, "Weiss's father came for her… And Destiny… _**She's missing**_."

"What?" Ruby said with disbelief, "What are you saying?"

Yang said to her, "No one outside of Vale knows what happened. Before the tower fell, the last thing that people saw was Atlas attacking innocent people, and Grimm destroying the city. Everyone's scared, no one knows who to trust. So Weiss's father came to take her back to Atlas where he thinks it's safe."

"And Destiny? Why is she missing?"

"When Qrow brought you to the safe zone… He said, the only person he found in the headmaster's tower was you, and no one else. Roman asked no-demanded to know where she was. But Qrow told him that he didn't see her anywhere; it was like she had just… _**Vanished**_. Weiss explained everything to our Uncle, and Ironwood; About Destiny, about how we were hiding her, about Roman being her father, and what the White Fang was told to do under Cinder's orders, though thankfully she didn't mention Destiny's secret. Ironwood sent his men to look for her, but Roman ended up leaving the safe zone, to look for his partner Neo and then afterwards his daughter. No one has seen him or Destiny since."

"What about-"

"And Blake ran!"

Ruby's eyes widened at this; she couldn't believe what she had heard, about what Blake did.

Yang continued, "Sun saw her go. After we got to the city… She just… Ran!"

"But… Why?" Ruby asked her.

"I don't know!" Yang said with her voice cracking, " _ **And I don't care…**_ "

"Yang there has to be a reason-"

"No there doesn't! Sometimes… Sometimes bad things just happen Ruby."

"So… What do we do now?"

Yang let out a sigh, "You can do whatever you want. I… I think I'm just gonna stay here for a while."

"Yang…" Ruby said reaching out.

"Please Ruby…." Her sister begged, "I just wanna be left alone…"

Ruby didn't want to leave but, she had to go with what her sister said. She walked out of the room hesitantly. She turned back to her sister, "... I love you." With that, Ruby left without saying another word.

Yang looked to the small dog plush; the same one that won by Destiny at the fairgrounds. As she looked at the small plush, she couldn't but think back to that sweet little girl. The sweet little girl they had met before the Vytal Festival, before all of… This had started. Though it may have been three weeks for others, for them, the ones that knew Destiny, it had felt like three years. All the times they had fun, all the times they felt the drama, all the times they've been there for each other, it had honestly felt like years. Destiny became more than just a friend to them. She became part of their family, everyone's little sister.

Yang's hand began to shake as she thought of Destiny.

" _ **Here, I made you guys some victory bracelets.**_ "

" _ **I'm so happy. I've never had friends like any of you before. I'm just so happy!**_ "

" _ **Are you sure this is okay? I don't want you guys to get in trouble.**_ "

" _ **You guys will always be my friends won't you? You'll never break apart right?**_ "

Yang held the plushie close to her now; tears began streaming down her face and a small wet spot began to form at the top of the plushie's head, as the thoughts of Destiny continued to plague her mind. "Destiny…" She said with her voice cracking, "... Where did you go…?"

* * *

 _Team RWBY along with Team JNPR had sat on the rooftop of the dormitories along with Destiny. Tomorrow was the day when the Vytal Festival will begin. Everything was all set; the Fairgrounds, the teams from the different academies, and the coliseum up in the sky. They felt prepared for the fights going to take place tomorrow._

 _Although they were honestly nervous to what they were going to witness against the other teams from the Academies. They had decided to do some stargazing just to take there minds off of it. They had set up a picnic and had gotten all kind of snacks and a couple of cards. They were currently playing a game called Old Maid; Destiny was the first to get out ._

" _ **HOORAY!"**_ _Destiny exclaimed, "_ _ **I'M THE FIRST ONE OUT!**_ "

" _Again?" Ruby said, "That's the sixth game in a row!"_

" _Call it luck!" Destiny said with a triumphant smile._

" _Are you sure you're not cheating?" Yang asked with a raised eyebrow._

 _Destiny smiled innocently and said, "Nope!"_

 _Just than Destiny spotted something in the sky. "Guys look!"_

 _She pointed up to the sky and the group saw what she saw. It was a shooting star. "Oh cool!" Jaune exclaimed, "A shooting star! You're lucky Destiny you get to make a wish."_

" _Really? Is that okay?" Destiny asked, "Don't you guys wanna wish for anything?"_

" _No, no, no, no." Nora said, "That's not how it works! If you're the one to see it first, than you have to make a wish."_

" _Well… Okay then." Destiny said before putting her hands together, "I wish… I wish for the everyone to have the best Vytal Festival of their lives and for me too… Too…" Destiny just began to tear up as she thought of her father. Tears streamed down her cheeks. The whole group immediately went to comfort her they saw this. They whole group ended up going into a hug. Destiny smiled and she immediately felt better._

" _Thanks guys." Destiny said leaning into the hug._

" _Hey, it's what friends do." Ruby said._

 _Pyrrha had added, "We'll be here for you. We always will."_

 _Destiny smiled at this, and she couldn't help but laugh._

" _Hey guys, look." Weiss said, pointing to the sky. The whole group looked up and saw that the whole sky was filled with shooting stars. They all couldn't help but stare at the sky with awe. "Woah…" Jaune said with his jaw dropped, "I've never seen this many stars before."_

 _Ruby stood up, "You guys! I have a good feeling about this tomorrow! So let's give it our all for the tournament, and may the best team win!"_

 _JNPR smiled and nodded their heads to Ruby, while the rest of team RWBY cheered. They felt that for sure that the Vytal Festival was going to be the best of there lives._

 _They just felt ready for whatever came their way And Destiny… She couldn't wait to see her father again._

* * *

Time had passed since the fall of Beacon and no one was the same since the Grimm Invasion in all of Vale. Fall had came and went and soon everyone throughout Remnant found themselves in winter. In the island of Patch the whole land was covered in snow. Ruby had shut the door to her house behind her, with her bag on her back and her Crescent Rose. She let out a sigh as she looked to the house, having her mind made up on what she was going to do.

"Hey Ruby."

Jaune stood in front of the house with his sword and a bag on his back as well.

"Hey Jaune." Ruby said with a smile, "Haven's a long way to go."

"I know. But it's the only lead we have."

"And you're sure you wanna come along?"

Ren and Nora stepped forward. "The journey will be perilous." Ren said "And whether or not we'll find answers is entirely uncertain."

"But we wouldn't be here if we we weren't up for that." Nora said.

Ruby smiled to them, "Thanks for this you guys."

Just than they heard a familiar voice come over them.

"Little Red, little Red… You're just determined to see this through to the end aren't you?"

The group turned and saw that it was Roman, leaning against a tree and his partner Neo stood beside him.

"Roman?" Ruby said with disbelief, "Is that really you?"

"Who else is it going to be? Santa Claus?" Roman joked, as he took a puff from his cigar.

"They said that you disappeared though." Nora said.

"I had too." Roman said, "I wanted to find answers, and I didn't want to do that from inside a cell. After all, I'm a wanted criminal remember?"

Ruby turned to Neo and waved to her awkwardly, "Hi… Sorry I opened your umbrella on that ship."

Neo simply said crossing her arms still a bit mad, "No you're not."

Ruby couldn't help but chuckle nervously at the remark before asking Roman, "What are you two doing here?"

Roman got rid of his cigar and replied, "I had a little tip off from one of my associates about where my daughter is. He told me that the trial leads straight to Mistral's Academy, in other words Haven. So… You don't mind if I tag along do you?"

Ruby, Jaune, Ren, and Nora looked to each other. Ruby turned back to Roman, "Do you mind if I ask you, why you want to come?"

Roman answered, "First of all, you did me a favor Red, and because of that, I owe you one. Second… I made a promise to the mother of that little girl, that I would always be there for her no matter what happens. And let me tell you, I'm a man that keeps my word."

Ruby smiled to him and simply said to the small group, "Than what are we waiting for? Let's get started."

With that, they all had walked down the open pathway that was provided for them, and they disappeared in the forest ahead.

* * *

" _A smaller, more honest soul."_

 _It's true that a simple spark can ignite hope. Breathe fire into the hearts of the weary. The ability to derive hope is undoubtedly mankind's greatest attribute. Which is why, I will focus all of my power…_

 _ **To snuff it out.**_

 _How does it feel? Knowing that all of your time and effort has been for nothing. That your guardians have failed you. That everything you built, will be torn down right before your very eyes._

 _Your faith in mankind was not misplaced. When banded together, unified by a common enemy… They are a noticeable threat._

 _ **But divide them… Place doubt into their minds…**_ _And any semblance of power that they once had will wash away._

 _Of course they won't realize it at first. Like you, they'll cling to their fleeting hope. Their_ _ **aspirations**_ _._

 _ **But this is merely the first move.**_

 _So you send your guardians… Your Huntsmen and Huntresses. And when they fail and you turn to your smaller soul…_

 _Know that you send her to the same pitiful demise._

* * *

In a land covered with red, and purple crystals all around, a young woman wearing a long black dress and a long drape had ascended up the stairs. In her arms she had carried a young girl; _**Destiny**_ laid asleep in the woman's arms, her hand still held on to Pyrrha's bracelet. Destiny showed signs of movement but had barely stirred from her slumber as the woman walked up the stairs.

As the woman got to the top, carrying Destiny, she approached what appeared to be an open coffin of some kind, and two types of Grimm laid their guarding it. The woman stepped forward, and placed her gently inside it.

The woman brushed some of Destiny's hair out of the way of her Grimm infected eye, and the child let out a groan; a lid had suddenly appeared trapping the little one inside. The woman had turned to someone, revealing her eyes to be the same as Destiny's, but both of her eyes had black veins around them; they were coated with black and the color of her eyes were of orange. Her arms had the same kind of veins as what was around her eyes, and she had a narrow black diamond in the middle of her forehead.

"This is the beginning of the end Ozpin... And I can't wait, _**to watch you burn.**_ "

( _ **Opening Theme: When It Falls Ft. Casey Lee Williams**_ )


	17. Epilogue

Right by a lake near a forest, there sat Cristal just dipping her feet in the cool and calm waters. A Griffon that was of grimm laid his head on her lap, humming softly as he made himself comfortable. Cristal was looking at two of the photographs that she was holding onto two photographs. One was a group photo of Team JNPR and RWBY and Destiny in the middle and Zwei's head in the corner of the photo.

The other photo was of Destiny and her; Destiny held up a camera facing the mirror, peeking her head from behind the camera, while Cristal herself, stood behind Destiny, kneeling and making it look like that the little one had bunny ears.

Cristal said to the Griffon, "Destiny won't be able to come back… At least not on her own."

The Griffon moved his head and let out growl, as if he was speaking to her.

"You don't think I know that?" She said to the Griffon, "I know that _**she**_ took her. I saw her with my own eyes."

He let out another growl.

"I know, I know." Cristal said, "It's not like I can go up against her. She's too strong even for me."

Cristal laid back into the grass and looked up at the clouds passing by.

"Even if I could fight her I wouldn't be able to last a second. If _**Destiny's mom**_ couldn't last against her, than-"

A thought soon came into Cristal's head; her eyes widened in realization. She looked at the group photo with teams RWBY and JNPR. She sat herself up so that she was supporting herself with her elbows.

" _ **A team…**_ " Cristal said, "Maybe if I have a team, I might have a chance against her."

The Griffon hummed to her this time.

"I know it's not a good idea, but what choice do we have?" Cristal said, "If it's the only way to stop her for whatever she has planned against Remnant, and get Destiny back, then so be it."

The Griffon let out a questioning growl.

"That's gonna be a tricky part." Cristal said, "But I'll figure something out."

Cristal placed the pictures back into her pocket and removed her feet from the lake. She sat herself up and placed her boots back on after drying off her feet. She stood up and stretched before making her way into the forest with the Griffon following behind her.

"Alrighty…" Cristal said with confidence, " _ **Let's go form up a team.**_ "

 _ **Next:**_

 _ **Team CRMS (Crimson)**_

* * *

 _Hey guys, Tenshi here! I just wanted to say thank you so much for reading. Really it means a lot to me that you guys are reading and enjoying my stories. You guys seem to like the idea that I put in The Child of Grimm story, and I'm really happy about that. Seriously I haven't gotten this much followers since I posted The Wolf Among Us story **I Feel Like a Monster** and that's saying a lot. Anyway before I get off track, I will say this, **The Child of Grimm** will have a sequel, though unfortunately so that I have an idea where Roosterteeth will go with the story, I will have to wait until till Volume 4 comes out, so this way I can be prepared for it. _

_Team CRMS however will be a spin-off to **The Child of Grimm** , though first off before the actual story comes out their will be short stories to the team. The first one being of course Cristal, and the others, all I can say is, they have either appeared or have been mentioned within this story. _

_Once again, thank you for reading, and thank you to those who have left reviews, it means a lot to me._

 _This is Tenshi, signing off ;)._


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